PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY IN PEACEKEEPING 

IS VITAL TO SUCCESS - UN ADVISER

New York, Nov  4 2004  6:00PM

Addressing the concerns of women, tackling gender-based violence and
ensuring full equality are essential for peacekeeping operations to
achieve their goals, the senior United Nations official dealing with
these issues said today.

"If we bring a gender perspective to bear, our work will be much,
much more successful," Comfort Lamptey told the UN News Service. "It is
critical to ensuring that we are effective and that the legacy we
leave promotes the rights of all the people in the countries where we
serve."

There are now 10 full-time gender advisers in UN peacekeeping
missions – a jump from just two in 2000. The other seven UN missions have 

gender "focal points" who serve similar functions.

Ms. Lamptey said these experts are working not only with traditional
allies such as non-governmental organizations and Member States but
also countries that contribute troops to UN peacekeeping.

"We need to do a lot of work in trying to convince and encourage them
particularly on the issue of gender balance in peacekeeping, which is
one of the key areas where we have to make improvements," she said,
noting that women currently make up just 1 per cent of military personnel 

and 5 per cent of police.

She said it would be necessary to show the contributing countries
"what a difference it makes to have women in these missions and how the
presence of women can contribute both to the effectiveness of the work 

that we do on the ground but also our role as peacekeeping missions vis-à-vis 

the host communities where we are working."

Gender advisers deployed in the field are supporting all components
Of peacekeeping operations, she said.

On the electoral process so central to numerous UN operations,
experts are examining ways to help women who want to run for office 

and to ensure that all people know their rights. "We are looking both at 

supporting women at the level of political participation as politicians 

themselves but also looking in the broader context to see if there are 

specific areas that may be preventing women from participating fully" 

in the political process, she said.

The advisers are addressing the critical issue of gender-based
violence, including wife-beating, sexual exploitation and rape, in a 

variety of contexts, including the disarmament process.

"Many of the girls associated with the fighting forces have been
kidnapped, many of them have been raped and many of them have had
forced pregnancies, so we need to be able to inject a perspective that
ensures that in the assistance that we provide we actually address the
response needs of women in this particular situation."

UN peacekeeping operations are also training police officers in
Mission areas to be more sensitive to the needs of victims, Ms. Lamptey said.

In the coming weeks, all UN gender advisers deployed in peacekeeping
operations across the globe will come together for a strategy meeting
in New York to chart a course for the future.