UN Resolution 1325: Low Representation of Female Peacekeepers

The demand for more female peacekeepers continues to be a growing challenge for the United Nations Peacekeeping. After the UN realized that female peacekeepers are assets in reducing sexual crimes in post conflict areas, the Department of Peacekeeping has mandated in recruiting for more female peacekeepers. Since the implementation of UN Resolution 1325 in 2000, the number of female participants has slightly increased up to 7 percent in uniform police officers and 50 percent in civilian staff. Apparently, achieving gender equality among uniform personnel remains to be a big challenge. U.N. personnel contributors have continually failed to meet the standards with regard to gender balance in the make-up of peacekeeping forces. The top contributing nations (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, & Nepal) have an extensive history of socio-economic, gender inequality. Within these countries, traditional cultural and political values prohibit women from joining U.N. peacekeeping operations. The difficulty in recruitment stands from the traditional belief that women should be isolated from mainstream society, where they lack the opportunity to advance in political, social, educational, and cultural life. Women are taught to be subordinate to men and restricted to their households. For instance, Pakistani women (the second top contributing nation) have reported complaints that they are unaware of peacekeeping opportunities because they are too isolated from the mainstream society. Cultural and political barriers prevent women from political participation and leadership, which also limits the amount of female applicants.Gender discrimination is also a major issue for the retention system. For those women that are recruited in the system, the majority are likely to drop out before advancing from entry to mid-level positions. By the end of their duty, women are exhausted from gender discrimination. Many are too intimidated by the prospect of advancing in rank because of societal stigmatization. Few women advance to higher ranks or are appointed into senior staff positions. This year, only seven out of forty-seven women were appointed as Special Representative of Secretary-General Position (SRSG).