UN Personnel Research Articles

Peacekeepers and Local Women and Girls: A Comparative Mixed-Methods Analysis of Local Perspectives from Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo

ABSTRACT The UN may sanction peacekeeping operations (POs) to neutralize armed groups and promote democratization. This research presents perceptions from beneficiaries of assistance related to POs and relations between local women/girls and peacekeepers within two post-colonial contexts: the DRC and Haiti. Using cross-sectional, mixed-methods data collected in Haiti (2017) and the DRC (2018), we performed a comparative secondary analysis to better understand similarities and differences by country and gender in how participants perceived peacekeepers. Congolese participants were more likely to perceive foreign UN personnel as ‘able to offer financial support’, compared to Haitian participants who were more likely to perceive the UN personnel as ‘in a position of authority’ and ‘able to offer protection’. Overall response patterns indicated that both Haitian and Congolese perceived the peacekeeper as responsible for initiating interactions with local women/girls. However, some variations were noted: Congolese male participants were most likely to perceive UN personnel as the initiators of interactions with local women and girls, compared to Haitians and Congolese females, who were more likely to perceive local women and girls as the initiators. Our research presents a locally grounded understanding of how locals perceive POs and peacekeepers relative to their communities and women and girls.

Vaccinating humanitarian workers against COVID-19.

To describe the United Nations' (UN's) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination programme and its efforts to vaccinate frontline humanitarian personnel stationed in locations where access to COVID-19 vaccine was limited or absent. The vaccination programme was structured as a two-level operation: a global vaccine deployment support team and local vaccine deployment teams in each participating country, territory or administrative area. The central group, led by a global vaccine coordinator, oversaw medical, legal, financial, logistical, data, technological and communication aspects. Local vaccine deployment teams were led by coordinators who managed registration, logistics, communication and vaccine administration. The programme used World Health Organization-approved COVID-19 vaccines and developed prioritization criteria for distributing vaccine supplies. The programme ensured that vaccines for the UN personnel were not diverted from the populations they were intended to serve. The programme successfully formed 120 deployment teams across 152 eligible countries, territories and administrative areas, targeting approximately 673 000 individuals. By April 2023, 72 countries, territories and administrative areas had received over 470 000 doses, of which 337 072 doses were administered. Almost half of the doses administered (167 616) were to individuals in five UN hardship countries. Ninety-five severe adverse events were reported, but none led to any reported medical evacuation, permanent disability or death. The programme demonstrated effective global coordination and local implementation, adapting to diverse contexts and operational challenges. The model can serve as a guide for global actors for future health emergencies, or for deploying health aid at a regional or global scale.

UN Peacekeeping and Democratization in Conflict-Affected Countries

Does UN peacekeeping promote democracy in countries wracked by civil war? Existing studies are limited and reach contradictory conclusions. We develop a theory to explain how peacekeepers can help overcome obstacles to democratization in conflict-affected countries, then test our theory by combining three original datasets on UN mandates, personnel, and activities covering all UN missions in Africa since the end of the Cold War. Using fixed effects and instrumental variables estimators, we show that UN missions with democracy promotion mandates are strongly positively correlated with the quality of democracy in host countries but that the magnitude of the relationship is larger for civilian than for uniformed personnel, stronger when peacekeepers engage rather than bypass host governments when implementing reforms, driven in particular by UN election administration and oversight, and more robust during periods of peace than during periods of civil war.

The Implementation Strategy of A4P(A4P+) and the Implications for Korean Military’s Participation in UN PKOs

Purpose: The United Nations recently announced A4P+, a priority for the implementation of A4P following A4P to emphasize the qualitative improvement of peacekeeping operations and the sharing of responsibilities among related actors. In this paper, I will consider the A4P+ priorities to be implemented for UN peacekeeping operations between 2021-2023 and draw implications for the Korean military deployment policy in peacekeeping. Method: To this end, Literature analysis centered on official documents published by the United Nations relat-ed to A4P and A4P+, was conducted, and military-related data were referenced among various data on the United Nations web page. Results: A4P and A4P+ presented areas and tasks to be implemented in peacekeeping operations by the UN, member states, regional organizations, and host governments related to the deployment of UN personnel. Up-holding A4P and A4P+ are WPS(Women, Peace, and Security) and data-driven and advanced technologies. All stakeholders in Peacekeeping must do their commitments in eight areas of A4P and prepare for the materialization of A4P through A4P+ priorities based on the two. Member states providing military and police are responsi-ble for providing their competent peacekeepers to field missions for their safety and security and mandate implementation. Peacekeeping operations emphasize high-tech and information collection systems for effectiveness and efficiency of peacekeeping, TCC/PCC should read and reflect the changes required from the UN into their deployment policy. Conclusion: Korea should do its commitment pledged to the UN to contribute to successful peacekeeping oper-ations. First, Korea shall contemplate its deployment policy, focusing on how and what it can implement A4P+ within a limited period. Second, Korea needs to re-consider the current participation of military and equipment. Qualitative expansion in Korea’s participation rather than quantitative one should be prioritized first.

Durban Antizionism: Its Sources, Its Impact, and Its Relation to Older Anti-Jewish Ideologies

Abstract The antizionism that dominated the 2001 UN “World Conference against Racism” was neither a completely “new antisemitism” nor was it simply the latest manifestation of an ahistorical and eternal phenomenon. During the peace process in the late 80s and 90s, the intensifying focus on Israel as a key symbol of all that was bad in the world had been in remission, but at Durban, the 1970s “Zionism=Racism” culture returned. Many participants internalized and embraced the reconfigured antizionism. Others failed to speak out, even when they witnessed the recognizable older antisemitic tropes with which it came intertwined. The proposal to agree that Zionism was the key symbolic form of racism in the world after the fall of apartheid offered unity across different movements and milieus: post-colonialism, human rights and humanitarian law; the women’s movement, anti-racism, much of the global left and NGOs; even oppressive governments if they positioned themselves as antiimperialist or “Islamic.” Activists, diplomats, and UN personnel at Durban were not passively infected by this antizionist ideology, they chose actively to embrace it or to tolerate it. Based on elements of truth, exaggeration, and invention, and made plausible by half-visible fragments of older antisemitisms, Durban antizionism was attractive because it offered an emotionally potent way of imagining and communicating all that “good people” oppose and that they have difficulty facing rationally. It portrayed racism, and in the end oppression itself, with an Israeli face. Delegates brought this worldview home to where they lived and to the spheres in which they operated intellectually and politically. They worked to make Durban antizionism into the radical common sense of the twenty-first century. There were people at the conference and in anti-hegemonic spaces around the world who understood the dangers of a unity built around opposition to a universal Jewish threat, but they found themselves on the defensive against a self-confident, formidable, and ostensibly coherent ideology or worldview.

United Nations Policy on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse: Problematizations and Performances

The United Nations’(UN) response to reports of UN personnel perpetrating sexual violence proclaims “zero-tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA).” Drawing on Carol Bacchi's “what's the problem represented to be (WPR)?” framework, this article unpacks how UN policy solutions represent the problem of SEA. It explores the discursive effects of the UN's problematization of SEA drawing on Sara Ahmed's analysis of audit systems and non-performativity within performance cultures. It scrutinizes the Secretary-General's reports on SEA data and policy documents, including training and risk assessment materials. The analysis shows that UN policy problematizes SEA as transactional sex, inevitable in conditions of poverty and gender inequality. Solutions individualize perpetrators as rule-breakers subject to discipline and generalize victims as among the many impacted by SEA globally. Such solutions situate the UN as the answer to, rather than cause of, SEA and restore a narrative of the UN as defender of the vulnerable.

Participant and narrative characteristics associated with host community members sharing experiences of peacekeeper-perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo

IntroductionPeacekeeper-perpetrated sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) account for 36% of the global reports of formal SEA allegations to the UN between 2007 and...

"When It's a Girl, They Have a Chance to Have Sex With Them. When It's a Boy…They Have Been Known to Rape Them": Perceptions of United Nations Peacekeeper-Perpetrated Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Against Women/Girls Versus Men/Boys in Haiti.

Peacekeeping missions have been marred by reports of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) against local community members. However, there is limited research on how SEA against women/girls versus men/boys is perceived in peacekeeping host societies. In 2017 we collected micro-narratives in Haiti and then conducted a thematic analysis to understand how peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA was perceived by local community members comparing SEA against women/girls versus SEA against men/boys. Both male and female participants used language which suggested the normalization, in Haitian society, of both transactional sex with and rape of women/girls by UN personnel. In contrast, peacekeeper-perpetrated SEA against men/boys was viewed as unacceptable and was associated with homosexuality and related stigmatization. Overall, our results suggest that in Haiti, inequitable gender norms, the commodification of female sexuality, and homophobia result in SEA against males being recognized as a wrong that elicits outrage, while SEA against women/girls has been normalized. It is important to address the normalization of SEA against women/girls to prevent future violence and to recognize that SEA is also perpetrated against men/boys. Survivor-centered programs, sensitive to the needs of both male and female survivors, are required.

Human Rights Protection in UN Peace Operations: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Despite the presence of UN peace operations for more than two decades, the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still dire. This article illustrates the types of violations of human rights and hindrances to protect human rights in MONUSCO. Methodologically being a qualitative study, it is based on existing literature and key informant interviews. Killings of civilians, sexual and gender-based violence, child soldiers, war crimes and crimes against humanity are major types of human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study argues that due to structural challenges, like the bureaucratic structure of MONUSCO, inadequacy of budget and juristic limitation of the Peacekeeping Force, and operational challenges, like challenges in the protection of civilians and UN personnel, the paucity of logistics and manpower and also gender-based violence by some UN personnel and peacekeepers in MONUSCO, the UN forces failed to maintain and defend human rights properly.

PROTECTION OF PEACEKEEPING FORCES BASED ON THE CONVENTION ON THE SAFETY

The attacks and threats directed at UN personnel and related personnel resulted in injuries and death. Therefore, to protect these personnel, the GA established a Resolution, namely the Convention on Safety, which aims to protect UN personnel while carrying out its mission. The 1994 Convention on the Safety of the United Nations and Associated Personnel regulates protected personnel and regulates prohibited acts to extradite perpetrators. The Convention urges the host country (Host Country) to determine its jurisdiction in extraditing perpetrators of crimes against personnel UN and related personnel without delay. Given that each country has sovereignty in its territory and is entitled to determine a national legal system that determines national law application based on jurisdiction.

A Multi‐Transition Approach to Evaluating Peacekeeping Effectiveness

SUMMARYPast studies of the effectiveness of peacekeeping operations (PKOs) mainly focus on the preservation of peace. If the transitions from peace to conflict or from conflict to peace are correlated based on grievances or war weariness, then a multi‐transition survival analysis provides more efficient estimates and may limit bias. Our main analysis for 133 country‐based conflicts during 1990–2016 shows that estimates of the two transitions display a significant negative covariance, consistent with grievances and the need for a multi‐transition approach. As a robustness check, we match UN PKOs with the absence of UN PKOs to address nonrandom assignments of PKOs. For the matched and unmatched estimates, we find that UN peace enforcement missions induce a transition from conflict to peace, while UN observation, traditional peacekeeping, and peacebuilding missions limit a transition from peace to conflict. We also show that UN troops, rather than UN police, are more effective in transitioning from conflict to peace and in maintaining peace after conflict. Further robustness runs for alternative subsamples (e.g., just civil wars) support the main results. Our findings indicate the appropriate UN PKO mission type and personnel mix to deploy depending on the conflict’s current state.

Гуманитарные и социальные вопросы в Совете Безопасности ООН

By the end of XX–the beginning of XXI century the importance of humanitarian and social issues in the world has sharply increased. Humanitarian and social means began to be intensively included in military and economic actions and play a significant independent role. As a result, there was an increase in the importance of “soft security” aspects, and an expansion of this field. This has affected the UN Security Council, which began to pay more attention to humanitarian and social issues, which was demonstrated with the statistical method. The range of humanitarian issues discussed by the Security Council and the list of actors sponsoring resolutions on humanitarian issues has expanded. In the late 1990s–early 2000s the Council begins to consider large amount of humanitarian issues: security issues of individuals in armed conflicts (civilians, children, women, UN and humanitarian personnel); civilian aspects of conflict management and peacebuilding; and separate issues of “soft security” (humanitarian assistance and such “soft threats” to security as HIV/AIDS epidemics, food crises and climate change). In addition, the Council also addresses human rights violations. The promotion of humanitarian issues in the Council on separate occasions was facilitated by high-ranking officials who put a premium on humanitarian issues; various UN bodies and organizations, mainly with humanitarian mandates; some non-permanent members of the Security Council who wanted to leave their mark in the Council’s history; various NGOs. In turn, some countries opposed the adoption of measures that they consider to be within the internal competence of their states. At the same time, the expansion of humanitarian and social problems in the world poses a dilemma for the Security Council: whether to include the entire range of these issues on the agenda, or it is beyond the scope of the Council’s mandate. There is no definite answer here. On the one hand, the world is moving along the path of strengthening humanitarian problems and its ever-greater involvement in security issues. On the other hand, an expanded interpretation of security can impede the work of the Council.

‘They Put a Few Coins in Your Hand to Drop a Baby in You’: A Study of Peacekeeper-fathered Children in Haiti

ABSTRACTMany peace support operations have faced allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse perpetrated by UN personnel against members of local communities. Some of these intimate relations result in children being born but there is little empirical data on the experiences of women and girls who conceive and bear these children. We analyse 265 self interpreted narratives from community members in Haiti about children fathered by UN personnel and born to local women or girls. The mixed methods results highlight three important themes: (a) poverty is a key underlying factor contributing to sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping personnel, (b) the repatriation of implicated peacekeepers often leaves the woman and child in exacerbated poverty, and (c) intimate relations with fair-skinned peacekeepers and having fair-skinned children are sometimes perceived as desirable. The data highlight that children fathered by MINUSTAH personnel are typically being raised in settings of extreme economic deprivation and are often denied access to education and other basic services that would enable them to break the cycle of poverty. While the overarching need identified in this analysis is financial, additional research with the children themselves in warranted to identify other needs and to inform policies and programmes intended to improve their well-being.

An ‘Impartial’ Force? Normative Ambiguity and Practice Change in UN Peace Operations

ABSTRACTImpartiality is a core legitimating norm for United Nations peace operations. Yet beliefs about what that norm requires of UN personnel have shifted dramatically. In 2013, for example, the Security Council created an intervention brigade – composed of infantry battalions, special forces, and an artillery company – to ‘neutralize’ non-state armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to critics, these activities violate core peacekeeping norms, including impartiality. This criticism elicits a puzzling response from many UN officials. They downplay the novelty of new practices, insisting that they are still ‘impartial’. Where does this discursive pattern come from, and what does it tell us about the relationship between day-to-day practices and the norms that ostensibly guide UN peace operations? Drawing on evidence from the DRC, I argue that norms like impartiality may endure – and remain rhetorically powerful – without telling us much about how practices on the ground have evolved. Instead, insisting that new practices are impartial can be a way for UN personnel to stabilize a core part of their identity under conditions of normative ambiguity. It can also be a way of glossing over contestation and pre-empting concerns about partiality in UN peace operations.

Reasonably Represented? The German Share of UN Personnel

Reasonably Represented? The German Share of UN Personnel

Towards a Convention on the Criminal Accountability of UN Personnel Including UN Military Experts on Mission and UN Police Officers

Towards a Convention on the Criminal Accountability of UN Personnel Including UN Military Experts on Mission and UN Police Officers

Peacekeeping, Compliance with International Norms, and Transactional Sex in Monrovia, Liberia

AbstractUnited Nations policy forbids its peacekeepers and other personnel from engaging in transactional sex (the exchange of money, favors, or gifts for sex), but we find the behavior to be very common in our survey of Liberian women. Using satellite imagery and GPS locators, we randomly selected 1,381 households and randomly sampled 475 women between the ages of eighteen and thirty. Using an iPod in private to preserve the anonymity of their responses, these women answered sensitive questions about their sexual histories. More than half of them had engaged in transactional sex, a large majority of them (more than 75 percent) with UN personnel. We estimate that each additional battalion of UN peacekeepers caused a significant increase in a woman's probability of engaging in her first transactional sex. Our findings raise the concern that the private actions of UN personnel in the field may set back the UN's broader gender-equality and economic development goals, and raise broader questions about compliance with international norms.

JISB Interview: Immunity, Sexual Scandals and Peacekeeping

Dr Nicolas Lemay-Hébert interviewed Paula Donovan, the co-founder and co-director with Stephen Lewis of AIDS-Free World, on 25 June 2015. AIDS-Free World is currently leading a campaign (named ‘Code Blue’) aiming at eliminating immunity for sexual violence committed by UN personnel. The organization is behind the leak to the Guardian newspaper of interviews by staff from the UN's Office of the High Commission of Human Rights and UNICEF with alleged victims of sexual abuse by French, Chadian and Equatorial Guinean peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. Subsequently, the UN's Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, decided to appoint an External Independent Review panel to look at the UN system's failure to address sexual exploitation and abuse.

The United Nations and Development Assistance in the Asia-Pacific Region

The United Nations at Work in Asia: An Envoy's Account of Development in China, Vietnam, Thailand and the South Pacific. By Roy D. Morey Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co, 2014. 277 pp., $33.25 paperback (ISBN-13: 978-0-786-47871-2). The rather formal title of this book belies its rich, varied, and original content. Roy Morey takes the reader on his extraordinary life's journey from US Senate staffer; to junior academic in Granville, Ohio; to the Nixon White House as Ehrlichman's chief public opinion polling officer; to the Department of State as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs; and finally, to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where a four-month consultancy expanded into a permanent career as UNDP resident representative in the Asia-Pacific region: in Thailand, Samoa and the “Microdots,” China, and Vietnam. Morey's final posting, as Director of the UNDP office in Washington, brings him full-circle, enabling him to look back and, with a wise and critical eye, assess the many strengths, and occasional weaknesses, of the United Nations and, particularly, the UNDP. He evaluates the contributions of these international organizations to each country to which he was posted, and enumerates the critical lessons gleaned from a lifetime's work in development assistance. The book also represents a journey in Morey's personal development, from self-described Republican and (continuing) admirer of Richard Nixon to thoughtful and cosmopolitan citizen of the world, asserting the values and virtues of the United Nations in the face of a skeptical Tea Party critique. Because of the fortuitous timing of his postings, Morey was present at some important turning points in international and developmental politics. Most dramatic was his appointment to China in 1988 and his first-hand experience of the 1989 Tiananmen crisis, when he assumed the critical role of expatriating UN personnel from Beijing. Prior to that time, from 1978, he was involved in …

Zverev P.G. The problem of status of UN personnel under international humanitarian law

Zverev P.G. The problem of status of UN personnel under international humanitarian law