UN official says gender equality at risk, decision to pull out blue helmets ‘danger’

Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 8th August. UN senior officials on Wednesday warned of the consequences for protection of women and their rights in conflict zones after recent decisions to close or shrink peacekeeping and special political missions.

Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, briefed the Council members in New York said that pulling or cutting the peacekeepers decision are being made by some governments despite an uptick in conflict and insecurity.

“It is counter-intuitive that, in the face of unprecedented levels of conflict and violence, the number of deployed peacekeeping personnel has dropped by almost half from 121,000 in 2016 to approximately 71,000 in 2024.”

She highlighted growing misogyny and violence against women and girls, added that wars are being fought with clear disregard for their lives, rights, welfare or autonomy.

Martha Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa at the department of peacebuilding affairs warned of the implications of rushing through a transition process in a tense political climate, persisting security threats, protection concerns and unprepared national stakeholders.

“Unless transitions are well-structured, adequately resourced and gender-responsive, women and girls will be at risk of setbacks,” she said.

She said that these could include losing access to essential services, being excluded from decision-making and becoming vulnerable to further violence.

Ms. Bahous cited the case of Haiti, where calls were made protect gender equality gains shortly after the departure of the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSTAH.

Alarms were sounded over increased kidnappings, rape and other violence against women and girls by criminal groups, she said.

“That was April of 2019. Ten months later the peacekeepers had left…four and a half years ago,” she said.

“Almost 5,000 cases of rape were reported to case managers and service providers in Haiti in 2023, with homicides, kidnappings, and sexual violence rising every year with no sign of slowing down,” she added.

Ms. Pobee noted the situation in Mali, where the UN peacekeeping MINUSMA closed in December 2023 at the insistence of transitional military authorities.

Mali had witnessed “transformative” progress that enhanced women’s political participation prior to its accelerated departure

“The drawdown of MINUSMA has however negatively impacted peacebuilding programmes focusing on women and girls and sustaining the gains made in the political sphere,” Ms. Pobee.

She voiced concerns over the recent departures of missions from key hotspots in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that have led to security vacuums and greater vulnerability for women and girls.

The drawdowns have diminished the UN’s capacity to support national partners in addressing conflict-related sexual violence altogether in areas including investigation, reporting and assistance to survivors.

She noted that other challenges relate to limited funds and the ability to implement existing national action plans relating to women, peace and security.

Ms. Bahous urged key steps to help address the gaps left by the accelerated drawdown of UN missions.

She said that the Security Council should ensure that transitions protect gender equality and women’s participation through routine decisions and interactions with host governments and organizations.

Ms. Bahous reiterated that there should be regular engagement with women from civil society to chart the impact on the ground also facilitating oversight by the Informal Expert Group on Women and Peace and Security.

It should prioritize financing for women’s peace and security work, collaborate with financial institutions and ensure sufficient resources are allocated when missions are being wound down.

“We fear a future of increasing atrocities against women, their ever-greater marginalization from decision-making and ultimately a failure of the international community,” she said,

“That prospect should be, and I am confident is, unacceptable for all of us,” she concluded.