United Nations Peacekeeping and Sexual Abuse: Beyond Zero -tolerance Policy to Pro -active Measures

This paper has periscoped the administration of peacekeeping operations by the United Nations (UN) as a mechanism in conflict management of international and internal crises. With 16 missions and about 120,000 personnel under its command by May 2012, the UN has expanded the tasks of peacekeepers to include peacebuilding and humanitarian aid services to the vulnerable and displaced local population. Here lies the sore moral challenge: the peacekeepers, taking advantage of the unequal power dynamics in the conflict zones, have unleashed fresh violence of sexual exploitation and abuse on the traumatised women and children, diminishing the integrity of the UN operations and moral authority for peacebuilding. This paper which has critically examined primary data from the UN, has put in perspective this under-reported deficit to effective peacekeeping operations, and offered critical pro-active administrative and operational initiatives to check the shameful sexual misconduct of peacekeepers and in order to sustain the credibility of the UN in its efforts to promote global peace and security.