A Critical Feminist Approach to Implementing Vancouver Principle 11

In this paper I aim to provide a critical analysis of how Vancouver Principle (VP) 11 on the Contribution of Women to preventing the recruitment and use of child soldiers addresses gender and women’s involvement in peacekeeping. Critical feminist research on gender and war, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, and international relations has examined and critiqued the important ways in which gender underlies, informs, and helps give meaning to matters of international peace and security. I draw on this diverse literature to discuss how VP 11 approaches gender and peacekeeping in a way that is at times problematic and at others nuanced and progressive, and provide concrete recommendations for how critical feminist insights can improve the implementation of the Vancouver Principles. The importance of understanding gender dynamics for peacekeeping in general, and for preventing the recruitment and use of children as soldiers in particular, necessitates more nuanced approaches to gender analysis and women’s participation. The implementation of VP 11 can support both of these areas.

Gender Mainstreaming in UN Peace Operations and the Prevention of the Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers

20 years after the adoption of the landmark Resolution 1325, it is important to assess the implementation of gender mainstreaming in UN peacekeeping operations and its impact on the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers. How has Resolution 1325 influenced the role of men and women in the fight against recruitment and use of child soldiers? What are the challenges and the way forward? This paper will examine the effect of gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations on the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers.

Gender Considerations in Advancing the Vancouver Principles in Armed Forces

Drawing from United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security and the Vancouver Principles, this paper highlights key factors to be addressed in military training and education to ensure that military members are adequately prepared to protect children affected by conflict and to enhance military capabilities to participate in the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Informed by feminist theories and analysis, this paper argues that military professionals are better prepared for the protection of children when they are given the opportunity to explore gender concepts in relation to their own socialization to the military and if they are provided with the right theories and tools to understand and respond to gender and intersectional dynamics of children and armed conflict. The paper suggests that while content that illuminates gender constructs and their relation to the security of children is crucially important, determining the right pedagogic approaches that support the effective training and education of military professionals is equally vital.

Beyond the Binary: Why Gender Matters in the Recruitment and Use of Children

Gender matters in conflict. Socio-cultural norms, attitudes and expectations related to gender dictate the causes, course and consequences of child soldiering. Despite international commitments, the recruitment and use of children in armed forces and groups persists. This paper summarizes existing quantitative data from the United Nations Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism, in light of complementary qualitative analysis from other sources, to highlight the ways in which gender norms can (a) drive recruitment, (b) determine roles and responsibilities, and (c) influence outcomes for children associated with armed forces or groups. The needs and experiences of girls and boys are explored, and where evidence allows, that of children of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Recommendations are made on potential actions that can further nuance the gender perspective proposed in the Vancouver Principles. Suggestions are made on how to ensure prevention and response interventions are (1) supported by consistently disaggregated data, (2) cognisant of the gender drivers behind recruitment, and (3) tailored to the distinct needs of children of diverse SOGIESC.

Preventing Recruitment to Improve Protection of Children

In order to progressively end the recruitment and use of children as soldiers, the world must focus on effective prevention. The impacts of violence on children affected by armed conflict, and particularly those recruited and used as soldiers, are substantial. Thus, in order to break endemic cycles of violence and achieve peace and security globally, we need to prioritize the prevention of recruitment and the protection of children. This article features examples of effective prevention-oriented strategies, including tangible and practical methods that can be implemented towards the ultimate goal of preventing the recruitment and use of children as soldiers.Keywords: prevention, child soldiers, violence, children and armed conflict, Vancouver Principles

Child Soldiers and Early Warning

Early warning of the recruitment and use of child soldiers remains an elusive concept. This is surprising given the number and intensity of conflicts today where child soldiers are used. Yet, there is currently no formal early warning system in this sphere that focuses on recruitment and use. Without formally looking at indicators that precede recruitment, the international community runs the risk of missing important opportunities for data collection and analysis which could help to improve child protection and inform conflict mitigation. This paper will employ a qualitative review of the policy and research domains to examine the current landscape of early warning as it applies to child soldiers. It will consider why it is important to expand the scope of early warning to incorporate recruitment and use, so that children can be prioritized on the international security agenda and, to further understand why some children are more vulnerable to recruitment than others. Ultimately, this paper argues that the development of an early warning system for child soldiers would be important to better inform recruitment prevention from its earliest stages.Keywords: Early Warning, Child Soldiers, Conflict, Recruitment Prevention, Child Protection

Data-Driven Peacekeeping and the Vancouver Principles: Towards Improved Monitoring and Reporting for Grave Violations Against Children

This article examines the UN’s move toward ‘data-driven’ peacekeeping and its implications for the Vancouver Principles, especially implementation of states’ monitoring and reporting commitments as outlined in Principle 6. I argue that data-driven peacekeeping presents both opportunities and challenges when it comes to monitoring and reporting. On the one hand, it can improve the quantity and quality of the information available about the recruitment and use of child soldiers. It can thereby foster improvements in responsiveness, performance, and accountability, both within peace operations and among other stakeholders. Yet data-driven peacekeeping also comes with challenges. These include data literacy and ‘buy-in’ among personnel on the ground, concerns about privacy and confidentiality, and political sensitivities around monitoring and reporting. Together these issues highlight the degree to which the Vancouver Principles are interconnected and mutually reinforcing – each affects implementation of the others, and none can be fully operationalized in isolation.

The Detention of Children in the Context of Armed Conflict

In recent years, governments have increasingly detained children for suspected association with non-state armed groups, particularly in conflicts involving violent extremist groups. Between 2012 and 2017, the United Nations recorded a five-fold increase in the detention of children in armed conflict.1 At any given time, thousands of children are imprisoned for suspected association with armed groups, often without charge and in inhuman and degrading conditions.

Gender, Peacekeeping, and Child Soldiers: Training and Research in Implementation of the Vancouver Principles

Since the passage of UN Security Council resolution 1325, there has been a growing focus on the involvement of women in peacekeeping operations. Ambitious UN targets, the Vancouver Principles, and the Canadian government’s Elsie Initiative all aim to support the increased inclusion of uniformed women in peacekeeping missions. This article discusses three areas in which the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative (Dallaire Initiative) is working to support Vancouver Principle (VP) 11 through the training of women security sector actors, training on gendered dimensions of the recruitment and use of child soldiers and SGBV against child soldiers, and through research on how gender matters in peacekeeping operations. Based on these experiences and an engagement with the academic literature, it makes a number of policy recommendations in support of VP 11.Keywords: gender, peacekeeping, training, child soldiers, SGBV

Security Sector Training on Prevention of Recruitment

Ensuring that peacekeepers receive suitable and effective training to prepare for deployments has become an important focus for the UN and member states over the past three decades. This is particularly relevant for non-traditional military skills needed in modern multidimensional missions, including child protection. This article discusses the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative’s (Dallaire Initiative) training and education programming for security sector actors, highlighting its effectiveness in preparing peacekeepers for addressing the presence of child soldiers, the importance of integrating the issue of child soldiers into national curricula, and the necessity of evaluating and learning from training.Keywords: training, peacekeeping, child soldiers