(iPoster) Civilian Protection in Post-Conflict Settings: UN Civilian Peacekeepers

• In Event: Poster Sessions: Protest, Repression, and Democratic Erosion & Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, and Post-Conflict Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, and Post-Conflict Politics

Abstract

This study explores civilian personnel’s impact in performing the essential tasks of multidimensional peacekeeping operations (PKOs). As the earlier research highlights, who is part of a mission, and how the mission is organized are essential features of conflict management processes, extending beyond merely administrative and logistical issues. I explore the main aspects of composition of peacekeeping missions—particularly regarding the types of personnel—and how these factors influence the success of peace efforts in reducing civilian victimization. In contrast to the existing research on UN uniformed personnel and peacekeeping performance, I examine the understudied effect of civilian peacekeepers in UN peace operations as they carry out one of the main tasks of peace missions: shielding civilians from violence. To this end, I address two central questions in this study: What impact do civilian personnel have on UN peace missions? How does the presence of civilian peacekeepers affect violence against civilians in post-war environments? Examining the role of civilian personnel in civil protection is especially important because civilian protection has long been seen as a task primarily carried out by uniformed personnel, which led to the assumption that UN civilian components had limited contributions to make. This study suggests that increasing the number of civilian peacekeepers in UN PKOs is critical to the effectiveness of peacekeeping in protecting civilians from violence. Expectations relating to the effectiveness of civilian personnel are tested on peace missions deployed in post-intrastate conflicts between 2016–2023. I utilize data from two projects to create a sample that covers the two-year period after the end of conflict for all intrastate conflicts that ended between 2016 and 2023. First, I determined the end dates for the sample of intrastate conflicts using the Uppsala Conflict Program’s (UCDP) Conflict Termination dataset and the Armed Conflict Dataset. The Conflict Termination dataset provides data on the start and end dates of conflicts from 1946 to 2021. I restrict my sample to only include intrastate conflicts. The Conflict Termination dataset was last updated in 2021, so to capture conflicts that ended afterward, I referred to the UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict dataset. Second, I compile data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset (ACLED) into a conflict-month format for a two-year period after the end of each conflict included in the sample. The monthly civilian peacekeeping figures were sourced from the UN Peacekeeping Factsheets published by the Department of Peace Operations. It is likely that certain underlying factors linked to both the post-conflict country and the nature of the conflict influence the United Nations’ decisions to deploy peacekeeping operations and also the effectiveness of those missions. The United Nations’ decision to deploy forces is itself a strategic decision, and therefore, we may face problems regarding selection bias in analyzing the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions. In other words, the potential selection effect in where peace missions are deployed might affect our results. To account for the potential interdependence between the deployment of a peacekeeping operation and the mission effectiveness, I use a Heckman selection model in my analysis. My findings suggest that civilian peacekeepers are effective in protecting civilians in post-conflict environments. This study’s findings offer useful guidance for policymakers and peacekeeping organizations, particularly the UN, in discerning effective applications and deployments of PKOs.

Author

• Isil Akbulut-Gok, Sacred Heart University