Proposals for a standing United Nations (UN) peacekeeping body – often referred to as a UN Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS) – have percolated for decades in order to prevent armed conflict and atrocity crimes, protect civilians at extreme risk, ensure prompt start-up of peace-keeping operations, and provide immediate humanitarian assistance in emergencies. However, these discussions have not always engaged with some of the uncomfortable aspects of previous peacekeeping operations, including the failure to adhere to a “do not harm” principle, in particular toward vulnerable women and girls.
With the UN Summit of the Future on the horizon and the People’s Pact for the Future developing apace, UNEPS and similar proposals are gaining support from civil society and States. This panel discussion aims to ensure that such initiatives draw from past experience as they look to the future.
CGS and the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy (WFM-IGP) are convening this hybrid event to explore how current United Nations permanent peace force proposals should apply a gender sensitive approach. Hosted by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), in Washington D.C., space is limited for in-person registration.
