Peacekeeping is an important part of the UN. UN peacekeeping is a ‘unique global partnership. It brings together the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, troop and police contributors and the host governments in a combined effort to maintain international peace and security. Its strength lies in the legitimacy of the UN Charter and in the wide range of contributing countries that participate and provide precious resources.

As the second largest troop and police contributing country (T/PCC) in UN peacekeeping peacekeeping is very important to Rwanda’s engagement in the international system.

Women’s participation in peacekeeping
With Rwanda’s deep commitment to leading the charge on the increased participation of women in UN peacekeeping, we have worked arduously to share and promote our best practices while also working with the Secretariat/C-34 to seed the necessary changes that will drive forth the long-term goals of gender mainstreaming and gender parity.  Regarding the former, we have actively raised awareness for training on gender issues in conflict and post-conflict environments. Regarding the latter, we have engaged the Secretary-General’s Office and the Office of Military Affairs to explore new strategies for recruiting women to peacekeeping missions.

The special committee on peacekeeping (c-34)
Rwanda has been a member of C-34 since 2006. C-34 contributes to the formulation of policies for UN peacekeeping missions. The aim of the committee is to enhance the effectiveness of peacekeeping missions by producing a yearly report that captures the current state of affairs of peacekeeping missions and provides guidance for the way forward.

 United Nations, “What is Peacekeeping”, www.peacekeeping.un.org