By Manuela Scheuermann

The United Nations is making an honest effort to initiate measures for greater gender equality in all parts of the world. But they themselves remain stuck in traditional patterns - with far-reaching consequences for gender equality within their own organization. While recent developments, such as gender parity in some major specialized agencies, may paint a more positive picture of a gender-sensitive UN, the important area of "peace and security" in particular shows that the UN still has a long way to go. Systemic obstacles at political and bureaucratic level prevent gender equality within the world organization.

A world organization sets standards

For some time now, the United Nations (UN) has presented itself as a pioneer, thought leader and standard setter for gender equality. Since Antonio Guterres took office, the UN's appeals to the international community to take gender issues seriously have become even louder. On the occasion of International Women's Day 2019, the UN Secretary-General emphasized that the advancement of the female half of the world's population is essential for global progress. This is particularly the case in the United Nations' constitutive area of activity "peace and security". Photos of women in uniform dominate the website of the Department for Peace Operations (DPO), which is responsible for peacekeeping. The intensification of the "Women, Peace and Security" program is also high on the agenda during Germany's non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council from 2019 to 2020, particularly as a result of German initiatives.

The UN discourse is dominated by a peace policy narrative of gender justice: the protection of women from sexualized or gender-based violence, the preservation of women's rights as human rights and the inclusion, indeed the active participation, of women in all phases of the peace process as a mandatory prerequisite for sustainable, stable and positive peace. In theory, women are now assigned all the roles in peace operations that men have had from the outset. Women are supposed to contribute to UN peace operations as mediators in peace negotiations, as candidates for elections, and as policewomen and soldiers. They should all serve as role models, but also facilitate communication with the female population in the areas of operation. Women bring unique skills to peace processes. That is why efforts for gender parity, gender mainstreaming and gender sensitivity are important. This is the message of the United Nations.

Gender plight in UN peacekeeping operations

However, if you look behind this glittering façade, a glance at the situation within the world organization shows that there is still a huge gap between words and deeds. Even though the proportion of female police officers and civilian UN employees is steadily increasing, the proportion of female soldiers in UN peacekeeping operations is stagnating at a low level. It has remained at around four percent for more than a decade. The UN Secretary-General's appeals seem to go unheard, especially in military matters. During last year's general debate on "Women, Peace and Security", he warned that the UN would lose both its credibility and its ability to protect the civilian population if the UN blue helmet contingents continued to be almost exclusively male. The protection aspect in particular is a key area of responsibility for UN peacekeepers and it is here that female soldiers make an essential contribution. There is evidence that sexualized violence against the female civilian population decreases, trust in the UN peacekeeping mission increases and the misconduct of male peacekeepers decreases when there are more women in UN uniform on the ground. So it is by no means just a numbers game that drives the UN to send more women as soldiers in UN peacekeeping operations, but the conviction that women bring real added value - for the culture within the mission and for the peace efforts on the ground.

Male institution prevents gender equality

The culprit of this gender-balancing plight in UN peacekeeping operations is usually quickly identified: it is the troop-contributing states that do not send women to the operations, according to the common position held by the UN in particular. However, the United Nations, especially the DPO, itself bears a considerable share of this gender misery. Responsibility must therefore be sought from both protagonists, the UN and the troop contributors. This is not so much visible at the so-called macro level, i.e. the political level, but at the micro level, the mechanisms of the bureaucratic institution of the DPO.

The DPO in particular still cultivates a conspicuously male management style. This consciously and unconsciously excludes women. This practice will be illustrated with a few examples from the everyday routine of the DPO. Predominantly male management bodies (1), gender-insensitive selection processes when filling positions (2) and - as has recently become known - sexual harassment in the workplace (3) are still the order of the day.

(1) The powerful DPO, which is responsible for all UN peacekeeping operations, is headed by six veteran leaders, including only one woman. This male-dominated image of leadership is not surprising for a number of reasons. For one thing, the DPO is the only institution of the thoroughly civilian UN that deals with military issues. If one follows feminist theories such as that of "military masculinity", which is advocated by Kronsell and others, it becomes clear that the military institution is masculine per se, and that a DPO working in a military capacity therefore primarily rewards men and male behavior - from the male job description to the male leadership style and male "leader". The UN is working against this "masculinity" in many of its subsidiary bodies and programs by consciously setting up support programs for women in leadership positions. However, these have little effect in the DPO in particular. Within the missions, there is another challenge that actually discourages women from serving in a leadership position. In the UN, it is common practice to designate leadership positions in UN peacekeeping operations as "no family duty" - in other words, to prohibit women from bringing family members with them. This may make sense in highly volatile areas if the aim is to avoid exposing the family to the dangers of violent conflict. In missions that are more of an observational nature, this simply makes no sense. If one also takes into account that leadership positions always mean several years of absence, but very few women want to be separated from their families for two or more years, there is ultimately a double discrimination in UN peace missions: that of the woman and that of the mother.

(2) Further obstacles to the participation of women in the DPO are the generally "male" defined requirements and the staffing practices within the UN. For example, the tasks that have to be performed in the DPO and in the field are often embedded in the UN's job applications in a decidedly military jargon. This is even the case for civilian jobs. Civilian women are often put off by this. In addition, male-dominated recruitment practices mean that women usually remain at the lower career levels. In the UN, internal appointments are made through informal mentoring - usually from man to man. Male newcomers are coached by male department heads and recommended for new positions. Women are left out of this male network.

(3) In addition, there is a system of degradation of women that weakens the entire UN. As recent studies have shown, sexual harassment is a daily occurrence. A survey conducted among all UN employees came to the conclusion that one third of the UN staff had experienced sexual harassment at work. According to the UN Secretary-General, the fact that only 17% of the 30,000 UN employees responded to the survey speaks volumes. "In an article in January 2019, The Guardian spoke of a "culture of impunity" in relation to sexual harassment at the UN. The United Nations has a systemic discrimination problem. And this despite the fact that the UN claims to have highly effective programs against discrimination in the workplace.

Outlook

The United Nations is well aware of these systemic stumbling blocks on the road to gender equality and surprisingly positive steps towards gender parity can be observed in many non-military areas. However, the profound injustice that can be observed in the DPO in particular will remain difficult to change in the future. The United Nations was founded by men, is a "men's organization" with a male culture and a male institutional path from which it is difficult to break. This weighs even more heavily in the DPO, which is also a military institutionalized department.

It should therefore come as no surprise that - according to UN projections - the DPO will not achieve gender parity until 2182 at the earliest. It is the old paths traditionally inherent to a military institution that are preventing a gender-equitable opening of the UN apparatus in the area of peace and security. It is not only the obvious, apologetic and accusatory arguments, above all the lack of female soldiers in the troop-contributing nations, that stand in the way of gender equality. The DPO is still a military-masculine institution. It is likely to remain so - with all the attendant implications for sustainable, stable and positive peace.