RESDAL - GPSF-DFAIT Project
“Women in the Latin American and Caribbean Armed Forces: A Gender Approach to Peace Operations”.


In December 2007, RESDAL received financial support of the Global Peace and Security Fund from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (GPSF, DFAIT) of Canada, to carry out the stage one of the project Women in the Latin American and Caribbean Armed Forces: A Gender Approach to Peace Operations.

Executive project summary

According to data from the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the participation of Latin American armed forces in peacekeeping operations has increased by 747% since 2000, while participating forces from the rest of the world has increased by 123%. The current mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is one of the most salient issues in peace operations cooperation between countries, with 6,900 forces involved there coming from countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Peace operations have, at the same time, an intense international debate on the participation of women in the contingents. Even though the gender perspective is relevant in conflict and post-conflict situations, contingents often do not incorporate this dimension. Only 126 of the above mentioned 6,900 troops are women. Furthermore, the challenges of peace operations refer to issues where the presence of women could be crucial: violent situations plaguing the conflict scenarios, such as rapes, problems with food distribution, ex-combatants, and child soldiers. These issues are alerting the international community about the need for taking the issue into consideration.

The Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) recognized this relevance by urging the contribution of women in United Nations field-based operations (especially among military observers and civilian police), and the incorporation of a gender perspective into peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations.

Despite the fact that hemispheric armed forces have an intense present and future role in peace operations all around the world, little has been done in the region to diagnose and debate about the participation of women in the armed forces at present and in the future. Most of the time, information about the quantity or incorporation of women is not available. Decision-makers do not usually hold this data or the proper information on how they are preparing their armed forces for the challenge of incorporating women to the structures.

A production of outputs and reports are needed to enable Latin American and Caribbean countries to debate the recognition of gender issues in their armed forces, and the connection with the growing participation in peace operations. This implies:

- Including the issue within the regional debate.
- Making precise diagnoses of the role of women in the armed forces, within the various domestic contexts.
- Associating the gender perspective in the armed forces with the growing participation in peace operations.
- Fostering the debate and the production of related policies through the presentation of accurate data.

In this order, RESDAL decided to begin a systematically documentation of the participation (or challenges for participation) of women in Latin American and Caribbean armed forces and in peace operations in particular. The information produced from this work is expected to contribute to the debate on women’s participation in peace operations.

The first stage finished with the celebration of the International Seminar “Challenges and Opportunities in Peace Operations: The Incorporation of Women”. In this occasion, representatives from regional peacekeeping operation training centres, Ministries of Defense, specialists on the issue and academics analyzed and compared regional advances and setbacks regarding the incorporation of women into armed forces and peace operations in the hemisphere.

- International Seminar: “Challenges and Opportunities in Peace Operations: The Incorporation of Women”.