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Advancing a Children, Peace and Security Agenda for the Future of UN Peacekeeping

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Multidisciplinary Futures of UN Peace Operations

Part of the book series: Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies ((RCS))

Abstract

Grave violations of children’s rights during armed conflict, particularly the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups, have been an important and growing concern for UN peacekeeping since the mid-1990s. Important advances in these children and armed conflict agenda have included dedicated child protection language in mission mandates, the development of extensive training and policy on child protection, and successful engagement with armed forces and groups to end abuses against children. However, the mandate has gaps in focusing on prevention of grave violations, acknowledging children’s participation in peace and security, and how child protection could contribute to building and sustaining peace. This chapter examines three areas in which future UN peacekeeping missions can improve their approach to the children and armed conflict agenda and complement ongoing initiatives such as Action for Peacekeeping + : better centering children in peace and security efforts, improving early warning and early action to prevent grave violations, and adopting more nuanced understandings of children’s gender and agency.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    These included the UN peacekeeping webpage on child protection (https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/child-protection), the UN peacekeeping resource hub (https://peacekeepingresourcehub.un.org/en/introduction), and the UN digital library (https://digitallibrary.un.org/?ln=en).

  2. 2.

    File number 2020–5152.

  3. 3.

    File number 2020–5369.

  4. 4.

    Note that this analysis was written before the sudden end of MINUSMA mandated by the Security Council in June 2023.

  5. 5.

    Interviews with two civilian peacekeepers, February and March 2021.

  6. 6.

    A new version of these training materials has been released since the authors carried out this analysis.

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Acknowledgements

This article draws on research supported by an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (number 435-2019-1124) and a grant from the Waverley House Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Dustin Johnson & Shelly Whitman

  2. School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Dustin Johnson

  3. Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Catherine Baillie Abidi

  4. Vanguard Economics, Kigali, Rwanda

    Laura Cleave

Authors
  1. Dustin Johnson
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  2. Catherine Baillie Abidi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dustin Johnson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    Alexander Gilder

  2. Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations, Coventry University, Coventry, UK

    David Curran

  3. School of Social Sciences and Global Studies, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Georgina Holmes

  4. Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Accra, Ghana

    Fiifi Edu-Afful

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Johnson, D., Baillie Abidi, C., Cleave, L., Whitman, S. (2023). Advancing a Children, Peace and Security Agenda for the Future of UN Peacekeeping. In: Gilder, A., Curran, D., Holmes, G., Edu-Afful, F. (eds) Multidisciplinary Futures of UN Peace Operations. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38596-4_9

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