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Human Rights for Peacekeepers course

Where egregious violations of human rights take place, conflicts become inevitable. Any effort to build a lasting peace must incorporate actions to repair the effects of violations, protect from new abuses and enable the population to exercise its rights and freedoms.

Today's multi-dimensional peace operations are complex tools designed to preserve peace and restore just and equal living conditions. They do this through a phased implementation responding to the realities on the ground; different functions and tasks; and different actors working together to pursue the same goals.

The protection and promotion of human rights is a key aspect of peace operations. Human rights cut across the security, the humanitarian and the development dimension; consequently, all UN entities – the military, the police, the civilian components of Peace Operations and the UN agencies working with the United Nations Country Team in the host country- are expected to integrate human rights approaches in their strategies and activities.

Coherence and integration shapes UN peacekeeping. From a human rights perspective, this translates in attentive assessments aimed to gather information on the root causes of human rights violations and to find appropriate solutions for those gaps; rigorous joint planning to identify achievable human rights benchmarks; and operational implementation based on respect for international human rights standards.

Human rights represent both a responsibility and an opportunity in today's peace operations. Peace operation's personnel must avoid committing violations or harming the population by abusing their power or simply by not observing peace operations' guidance. By applying human rights in their work, they can protect the conflict-affected population and particularly individuals and groups most at risk, build the capacity of national actors and empower civil societies and marginalized groups.