UN Peace Operations & Human Rights: A Thematic Study Executive Summary

This study of the Effectiveness of Peace Operations Network (EPON) examines the contributions of the UN’s human rights work within a wide range of UN peace operations, including peacekeeping missions, special political missions (SPMs), and regional prevention offices. The core questions of this study were: (1) How does the UN’s human rights engagement contribute to the overall impact of UN peace operations, including the protection of civilians (POC)? (2) Overall, how do UN peace operations themselves contribute to human rights outcomes? and (3) What lessons can be drawn by comparing different UN peace operations in terms of building better synergies between human rights-focused activities and the other work of missions?
The goal of the report is to offer a comparative, empirically backed assessment of the ways UN peace operations efforts to advance human rights contribute to mission effectiveness and broader mission objectives.

Lead author
Prof. Charles T. Hunt – Senior Fellow, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research/ Senior Research Associate, Institute for Security Studies/Professor of Global Security, RMIT University

Co-authors
Ms Emma Bapt – United Nations University Centre for Policy Research
Dr Adam Day – United Nations University Centre for Policy Research
Dr Fiifi Edu-Afful – Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) Ms Abigail Gérard-Baldé – Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
Ms Hafsa Maalim – Independent researcher
Ms Wendy MacClinchy – Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC)
Ms Nadia Nata – Independent researcher
Dr Claudia Pfeifer Cruz – Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)