Peacekeepers as allies in tackling sexual violence in conflict
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Editor’s Note: This report was originally published by Refugee Law Project (RLP) via it’s Listserv on Monday 2 November 2020 at 13:06hrs EAT. Original Post is on RLP’s Website. Photo Credit: Onen David Ongwech
Dear Page Visitor,
When peacekeepers turn out to be perpetrators, their credibility and their capacity to deliver on their promise to keep the peace is severely eroded. Instances of this have been seen around the world again and again in recent decades.
When on the other hand peacekeepers are equipped to understand, respond to and prevent some of the dynamics that can destabilise an often fragile peace, then their value is greatly enhanced in post-conflict situations. This is particularly the case if they are able to engage pro-actively on issues of conflict-related sexual violence and its ‘post-conflict’ manifestations in the form of sexual exploitation and abuse.
As Refugee Law Project, therefore, we are proud to have been able to benefit from the support of the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office (now replaced by Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) from 2016 – 2019 to train multiple deployments to Somalia of Ugandan Peacekeepers under the Uganda People’s Defence Forces.
The fourth grant in the series catered for post-deployment evaluation discussions with returned peacekeepers who had benefited from Refugee Law Project’s trainings on the International Protocol for the Documentation & Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict. This report reflects those evaluation discussions.
The report offers testimony to the value of such training endeavours, as well as to the importance of the International Protocol as a guiding document around which to organise both the content and the process, and also makes a number of important recommendations about how future trainings can be further strengthened, as well as measures that can be taken in conjunction with trainings to strengthen their impact during actual deployments of peacekeepers.
Thank you.
When peacekeepers are equipped to understand, respond to and prevent some of the dynamics that can destabilise an often fragile peace, then their value is greatly enhanced in post-conflict situations. This is particularly the case if they are able to engage pro-actively on issues of conflict-related sexual violence and its ‘post-conflict’ manifestations in the form of sexual exploitation and abuse. The report offers testimony to the value of such training endeavours, as well as to the importance of the International Protocol as a guiding document around which to organise both the content and the process.
