Who Keeps the Peace? Gendered Effects in UN Peacekeeping

• In Event: Peacekeeping: New Challenges & Perspectives

Abstract

Why are some peacekeepers more effective than others? Since the end of the Cold War, UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) have increased dramatically in size and scope. However, most analyses of peacekeeper effectiveness fail to account for the gendered effects of peacekeepers. Conversely, work exploring the role of gender in peacekeeping has not taken advantage of recent advances in data availability that allow for more fine-grained analyses of the local and subnational effects of peacekeeping deployments. By unifying the relevant literature on the effects of women peacekeepers on trust, this paper provides the first comprehensive framework explaining how women can enhance UN peacekeeper effectiveness. Using two-way fixed-effects models and recent advances in optimal matching, I provide the first empirical evidence that including more women in a peacekeeping force can dramatically increase the unit's effectiveness against rebel violence. These findings suggest that women peacekeepers are more important in maintaining peace than previously thought.

Author

• Sky Kunkel, Cornell University