Special Initiative: Women in Peace Operations Project

The Women In Peace Operations Project was created in 2006 to improve the capacity of international and regional organizations to engage in peace operations by expanding the opportunities available to women with relevant expertise.

Programs Include:

• WIIS Research - Reports
• WIIS Workshop Series: Introduction to Field Operations
• Partnership with CANADEM to identify women experts for UN missions

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First Report
United Nations Reform: Improving Peace Operations by Advancing the Role of Women

In February 2007, WIIS and the Stanley Foundation published United Nations Reform: Improving Peace Operations by Advancing the Role of Women—a policy analysis brief with recommendations to enhance women’s roles within peace operations. These findings were generated at expert group meetings in New York and Washington, which identified barriers to women’s advancement and sought concrete ways to improve recruitment and selection of women for peace operations.

Forthcoming Report
Women in Peace Operations: Increasing Leadership Opportunities

The next phase of the project is being supported by the Compton Foundation. In Spring 2008, WIIS will be publishing a follow-up report entitled Women in Peace Operations: Increasing Leadership Opportunities. This new report aims to improve understanding of the qualities and skills required to lead UN peace operations, promote the development of more transparent procedures for the recruitment of senior managers for peace-keeping missions, and encourage reform to provide expanded opportunities for women’s leadership.

Based on over 50 interviews with former and current women in high-level positions in the UN Secretariat, in various agencies in New York and in peace-keeping missions, as well as representatives of key national governments and other practitioners and experts, the resulting report includes a literature review, data and analysis on the number of women who have served in senior-level positions in UN peace operations, and the impact of women’s presence on the operations and outcomes of peace operations—for the UN and the host countries.

The report concludes with policy prescriptions for the UN and member states to facilitate women’s leadership in senior-level positions, including specific mechanisms that can be developed or strengthened to identify and bring forward qualified female candidates.

The report is expected to be released in April 2008.

Sign up to receive a copy of the report.
Include your e-mail and mailing address. [Please disregard the instructions for event RSVP at this time.] WIIS members may receive this publication for free.

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WIIS Workshop Series: Introduction to Field Operations

This series aims to provide a practical introduction to various field operation settings for individuals interested in career opportunities in field missions. The customized workshops will address the following: necessary skill sets and qualities, recruitment and advancement, and women's roles in field operations.

For more information on this series, please contact wiisevents@georgetown.edu.

 

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Partnership with CANADEM

To address the recruitment needs of UN field operations, as well as to fulfill WIIS' mission to advance women's career opportunities in peace and security, WIIS has recently partnered with CANADEM to better identify women experts for UN Peace Missions and similar field work. CANADEM is a non-profit Canadian-based NGO that works with the UN to identify peace and development experts for UN missions from its international roster of over 9000 professionals. Since 1997, CANADEM has recruited over 2500 experts for the UN and its partners.

WIIS members may apply directly to a special WIIS-designated process. Please contact Jennifer Park at jcp59@georgetown.edu for more information.