Are UN Peacekeeping Leaders Held to Account?
In analysis for Political Violence At A Glance, an IGCC-supported blog dedicated to political violence and its alternatives, Magnus Lundgren, Senior Lecturer at Gothenburg University, Kseniya Oksamytna, Lecturer at City University London, and Vincenzo Bove, Professor at the University of Warwick, analyze the United Nation’s mixed record of holding UN peacekeepers accountable for abuses.
When the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission was established in the Central African Republic in 2014, many hoped it would quell violence, protect civilians, and facilitate humanitarian assistance in the war-ravaged country. But by August 2015, the mission had received almost 60 allegations of misconduct and child sex abuse. One of them concerned a 12-year-old girl allegedly raped by a UN peacekeeper.
With more than 75,000 uniformed personnel across twelve ongoing missions, UN peacekeeping is a crucial tool for maintaining international peace and security. UN peacekeepers have been credited with contributing to a number of the positive outcomes you’d expect from peacekeepers: preventing the spread of conflict, protecting local populations from rebel violence, enhancing civilians’ economic and psychological well-being, and helping parties sign peace agreements.
But they have also been the targets of justified criticism.
Read the full blog post at Political Violence At A Glance.