Shamila Neemat Sarwar
Programme Associate, CPD
Email: shamila@cpd.org.bd
Women play a vital role in peacekeeping – be it at home or in war zones. Using their innate superpowers, these “Wonder Women” in peacekeeping establish peaceful environments wielding their swords and shields to protect human rights during times of conflict and confrontation. Peacekeeping has evolved as a crucial phenomenon in the modern, globalized and conflict –prone world, where weapons used are crafted for “Mutually Assured Destruction” almost all the time. It is no surprise that women’s role and contribution to peacekeeping is gaining more prominence, especially in the contemporary era where soft skills such as communication, negotiation and consensus are vital to establishing peace and justice.
What we see is a manifestation of progress when we find women in all areas of peacekeeping- police, military, and civilian divisions and in every corner of the world. A momentary time travel to 2005 relapses to a point in time when females constituted 1.50% of the military and police personnel in UN peacekeeping operations. According to United Nations Peacekeeping, the female shares in peacekeeping operations increased to 3.3% in 2010. Currently, females constitute 4.99% of the total UN peacekeeping staff (military and police). These numbers tell a story of growth where there have been visible improvements in female representation in peacekeeping over the years.
Bangladesh, as one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping operations has marked its eminence in peacekeeping with several noteworthy accomplishments. As of December 2017, there were 7,246 Bangladeshi troops and police personnel in 10 missions around the world, as affirmed by United Nations Peacekeeping. Moreover, in 2017, Bangladesh sent two female combat pilots to the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) Adding more to the success story is the fruitful completion of the all-female Bangladeshi Formed Police Unit who served in the UN mission from 2015 until October 2017, in Haiti, known as MINUSTAH, providing all the more reasons to celebrate female participation in peacekeeping.
But all positive aspects must be interrupted by the infamous “however”. Thus, however, outside the realm of these achievements, the statistics of peacekeepers, specifically in military observer and staff officer roles highlight the gender imbalance in peacekeeping in Bangladesh. According to UN Peacekeeping statistics, out of 137 peacekeepers (military observers and staff officials) from Bangladesh, females make up 8.8% compared to 91.2 % males. If looked at from the “glass is half full” viewpoint, Bangladesh with 8.8 % female forces in peacekeeping is leading China with 2.5 % female peacekeepers. However, this quickly changes to a “glass half empty” scenario if looked at from a broader perspective as India and Nepal show evidence of a greater female representation compared to Bangladesh- with 13.9% and 14.1% women peacekeepers respectively.
To correct this gender imbalance, Bangladesh must ensure that more women are in the forefront and have the opportunity to exercise leadership in diverse areas of policy implementation and decision making in the government, foreign policy and peacekeeping. More importantly, as we strive to ensure the effective implementation of SDG 5, “Gender Equality” and SGD 16 “Peace and Justice”, enabling conditions and environment must be created for women in all sectors. This will not only rectify the gender imbalance but also enable Bangladesh to benefit from the collective productive capacity of women, enabling all “ordinary” women to fully utilize their “extraordinary” potentials and work wonders for inclusive and sustainable development of the country.