Washington, DC – The Stimson Center’s Protecting Civilians and Human Security program has been awarded a multi-year Contribution Agreement from Global Affairs Canada for their work in framing gender responsive leadership in UN peace operations. This Contribution Agreement is part of the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations, as part of the Government of Canada’s pledge of over $20.4 million in support of new projects and contributions to continue supporting UN peacekeeping operations and up to $6.2 million in support of the protection of civilians. The support was announced at the 2023 United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial in Accra, Ghana.
Through this support, the Stimson Center project team aims to support efforts to foster more gender-responsive leadership within peacekeeping missions, strengthening efforts to not only make missions more inclusive in their operation, but also more effective in the delivery of their mandate. Through a series of research interviews and workshops with former and current UN senior mission leaders and troop- and police-contributing countries, as well as the examination of various peacekeeping mission case studies, the team will clarify how the concept of ‘gender-responsive leadership’ can be translated into practice, assess how gender-responsive leadership manifests in mission settings, and analyze the approaches of different deploying countries and organizations. Research findings will be shared through short commentary analyses and longer-form reports throughout 2024 and 2025. The project’s research will build on the existing programmatic work and engagement efforts to strengthen UN peace operations and their ability to protect civilians.
Learn more about the Framing Gender Responsive Leadership project: https://www.stimson.org/project/framing-gender-responsive-leadership/
Project lead, Lisa Sharland, Senior Fellow and Director of the Protecting Civilians and Human Security program at Stimson, said, “There is often a tendency in the context of UN peacekeeping or military operations to associate or identify a ‘gender-responsive leader’ as an individual that may be a woman or is supporting or elevating women. However, while such approaches are important, only focusing on these aspects mean that the potential and impact of gender-responsive leadership is being ignored and overlooked. Supporting senior mission leaders with more inclusive and gender-equal approaches to peacekeeping has transformative potential to address barriers to women’s participation in peacekeeping, and the ability of missions to implement their mandates.”
Global Affairs Canada defines, shapes and advances Canada’s interests and values in a complex global environment, managing diplomatic relations, promoting international trade and providing consular assistance. Global Affairs Canada leads international development, humanitarian, and peace and security assistance efforts and contributes to national security and the development of international law.
Learn more about Canada’s commitments during the 2023 United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial: https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2023/12/backgrounder-canadas-commitments-at-the-2023-united-nations-peacekeeping-ministerial.html
The Stimson Center promotes international security and shared prosperity through applied research and independent analysis, global engagement, and policy innovation.
For three decades, Stimson has been a leading voice on urgent global issues. Founded in the twilight years of the Cold War, the Stimson Center pioneered practical new steps toward stability and security in an uncertain world. Today, as changes in power and technology usher in a challenging new era, Stimson is at the forefront: Engaging new voices, generating innovative ideas and analysis, and building solutions to promote international security, prosperity, and justice.
More at www.stimson.org.
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