UN Women Peacekeepers Conference

By R Anil Kumar

New Delhi. Peacekeeping efforts by the United Nations are being challenged by growing disunity between Member States, the UN head of Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix said during the Conference for Women Peacekeepers in New Delhi.

The two-day event was an opportunity to highlight the importance of women in peacekeeping, and delegates also discussed the current challenges to peacekeeping, and how the UN and Member States can work together to adapt to the new realities of today’s geopolitical landscape.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the biggest challenge is divisions between our Member States, because we rely on their strong and united political support.

Unfortunately, that unity is less certain today. When they encounter challenges and difficulties existing peacekeeping missions cannot always count on strong and united support from Member States, including host governments.

Another critical point is that peacekeeping operations are deployed to support political efforts. But for those political efforts to succeed, we need a united, committed, and strong international community, Lacroix said.

The nature of conflicts has evolved. There are more non-state actors, including private security companies. The drivers of conflicts are increasingly transnational, whether they are terrorism, organized crime, or the impact of climate change.

Although we cannot control the level of unity among our Member States, we must work on addressing the evolving nature of conflicts and improving our ability to respond effectively, he added.

On how can peacekeeping stay ahead of the threats posed new technology, such as AI, cyber attacks and drones, Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that it is a critical objective, and the reason we have launched a strategy for the digital transformation of peacekeeping, which aims to improve situational awareness, enhance the safety and security of our peacekeepers and counter misinformation, which is currently being weaponized in many peacekeeping settings.

However, to achieve this we need to improve digital literacy among our staff, which will require significant efforts in terms of training and enhancing their level of preparedness. We cannot do that alone as the UN Secretariat, we need to work with our partners, The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, stated.

Speaking on from frontlines to leadership roles, and what needs to be done to take for women to be the face of UN peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said We are doing better when it comes to the number of women serving in peacekeeping, and the proportion of women has been constantly improving.

However, we want to have more female officers in senior positions, such as Force Commander and Deputy Force Commander. Not many armed forces have women at this kind of level, but India is doing a lot to achieve that and is providing more female officers.

We also have to look at how we make the peacekeeping environment welcoming for both women and men. This includes practical issues such as facilities, and a lot of effort is being made to improve the quality of our camps and their suitability for women as well as for men.

There is also a psychological dimension to this, ensuring that all peacekeepers, men and women, do their best to make the work environment welcoming to all, and certainly to women. We are working on this, but I think it’s also a shared responsibility that we have with the troop- and police-contributing countries.

When questioned on how improvement can be done on the advancement of women in peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix answered: First of all, it is UN policy to empower women. Having more female peacekeepers generates a better work environment and they become role models for other women. I believe that we have a better record of conduct and discipline when we have more women in peacekeeping.

It’s particularly important to have more women in peacekeeping when it comes to building trust with communities, and that is something that has been regularly emphasized.

However, their role is not limited to community engagement. For example, we have female officers who are helicopter pilots and basically every task that we have in peacekeeping is open to women as well as to men, he added.

Answering on how the countries of the Global South can play a more active role in peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that the majority of the peacekeepers that we deploy come from the Global South, including India, which is one of the biggest contributors. Their role is critically important, not only in terms of numbers but also in other areas.

India, for example, is helping with all efforts currently being carried out to improve peacekeeping, from safety and security to how we use digital technology. Of course, this includes improving the number of women in peacekeeping, enhancing how performance assessments are carried out, and other areas.

I think there is a wealth of experience in the Global South which we really want to take advantage of so that we continue to adapt and address current challenges: we need to make sure that tomorrow’s peacekeeping operations remain relevant.