This publication marks the start – not the end – of a process to identify what works in preventing sexual violence and improving women's security. Combating sexual violence calls for sustained attention, action and cooperation commensurate with the scale of the challenge.
The military component of peacekeeping operations can play a vital role in the protection of women and children as part of its mandated task of protecting civilians. This means not only protecting women from the violence itself, but also supporting individual social and economic recovery afterwards. In support of these goals, we aspire to recruit more women in uniform to help provide this critical aspect of security in peacekeeping operations, and to ensure that all of our personnel understand that enhancing women's safety enhances mission success. The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations Office of Military Affairs (OMA) has been actively engaged in this work, and has participated in assessment missions, with technical and financial support from UNIFEM, to areas where sexual violence has been a prominent feature of the conflict and its aftermath.
