Of the more than 8,200 police personnel serving across 17 United Nations field missions and regional offices, more than 20 per cent are women. United Nations Police (UNPOL) has already reached its 2025 targets set-out in the UN Secretary-General’s gender parity strategy. Women UNPOL officers improve the operational effectiveness of UN peacekeeping operations by undertaking new approaches to building networks and partnerships, integrating the perspectives of women who – despite representing half the population – are often marginalized in planning and decision-making processes, and by secur ..read more

Edited by: Alessandra Loiero  This story is part of the “People for Peace” story series. More than two million peacekeepers have worked for peace under the UN flag, and they are not alone in their efforts: peacekeeping is powered by strong and diverse partnerships. In this series, we bring you the voices of peacekeepers and their partners across the world. Colonel Ghislaine Léa Yangongo first joined the Central African Republic’s army (known as Forces Armée de la Centrafrique, or FACA) as a volunteer in 1997. After graduating from officers’ school, she rose through the traditionally male ..read more

Women have a fundamental right to participate in peace negotiations and decision-making that affects them, their families, and the futures of their countries. There is also evidence that their inclusion makes a peace agreement more likely to succeed and contributes to longer lasting peace. Despite this, women’s participation in peace processes has remained low globally. Negotiating parties continue to regularly exclude women, and women continue to face entrenched barriers to direct participation. Peacekeeping missions are working to change this in conflict settings around the world, promoting ..read more

Mr. President, Thank you for the opportunity to brief the Security Council on the report of the Secretary-General and my recent visit to South Sudan to make a first-hand assessment of the situation on the ground. During my visit (19-23 February), I met President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar along with senior leaders of the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity, members of the civil society as well as representative of the diplomatic community. I undertook a field visit to Kuajok in Warrap State to assess the ongoing intercommunal clashes on either side of the ..read more

This story is part of the “People for Peace” story series. More than two million peacekeepers have worked for peace under the UN flag, and they are not alone in their efforts: peacekeeping is powered by strong and diverse partnerships. In this series, we bring you the voices of peacekeepers and their partners across the world. Of the 112 peacekeepers deployed by Azerbaijan to a UN peacekeeping mission since 1991, Major Latifa Rustamova is the first woman. Hailing from the capital Baku, Major Rustamova’s journey from the Azerbaijan Military Academy to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan ..read more

“It is only through justice that we will build an enduring peace,” says Ibrahim Suru, state Minister of Local Government in South Sudan. A mobile court established with assistance from the peacekeeping mission there has “helped all communities feel safer; reduced criminality and promoted ownership as well as accountability and trust among people…” he says. Peace is difficult to achieve and even harder to sustain without effective, accountable, and inclusive rule of law. That’s why UN peacekeeping is helping countries build the institutions they need to peacefully resolve disputes and to hold p ..read more

Marking a significant milestone, the Republic of Kazakhstan officially announced its inaugural independent commitment of a military contingent to United Nations Peacekeeping on 14 February. At a ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York, Lieutenant General Sultan Kamaletdinov, First Deputy Minister of Defence and Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, and Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support (DOS), signed a memorandum of understanding that will govern the deployment of a Force Reserve Company from Kazakhstan to the United Nations Disengagement Observer F ..read more

The Under-Secretary-General for UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, recently visited the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) to review the Mission’s ongoing work in the context of the disengagement plan jointly agreed upon by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and MONUSCO. He was accompanied by Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General for Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, and Christian Saunders, Special Coordinator for Improving UN Response to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. On 19 December 2023 ..read more

“I was 11 years old…”  recalls Ndale Nyengela in an interview with MONUSCO, the peacekeeping mission in his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He and his friends were on their way to school when armed men approached them. “We were forced to become child soldiers for three years. I was very afraid… of going into combat, of dying.   “I got out of there thanks to the efforts of MONUSCO,” he said, also recognizing the efforts made by the local authorities and defense forces.   Peacekeeping missions have helped secure the release of over 100,000 children like N ..read more

The past twelve months have been remarkably challenging. It was “a year of enormous suffering [and] violence,” UN Secretary General António Guterres acknowledged. “Wars are growing in number and ferocity.” Conflict-related deaths reached a 28-year high, with full quarter of humanity living in conflict-affected areas.   In some of the world’s most deadly conflicts, UN teams worked hard to promote peace and deliver humanitarian assistance, but UN Member States remained polarized and divided and despite the growth in conflict.  Amidst these challenges, in 2023 88,000 peacekeepers f ..read more