September 10, 2024, 3:02 am
Over the past 30 years, UN peace operations have increasingly included strong human rights mandates. This reflects growing awareness of the links between human rights and conflict management, including to the protection of civilians (POC) and deeply entrenched governance shortfalls in many fragile, conflict-affected settings.
However there has been rising pushback on human rights language in peace operations mandates (especially related to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda and child protection). It is a continuing challenge for the UN system to navigate the complex political terrain of conflict settings and leverage the combined efforts of human rights and other aspects of peace operations.
How does the UN’s human rights engagement contribute to the overall impact of UN peace operations, including the protection of civilians? How do UN peace operations themselves contribute to human rights outcomes? What lessons can be drawn by comparing different UN peace operations in terms of building better synergies between human rights-focused activities and the other work of missions?
Content Creator – Australian Institute of International Affairs
