Bangladeshi Women in UN Peacekeeping: A Case Study

The United Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPK) have been evolving continuously and Bangladesh as a country has been playing an important role in it. The country wants to remain a dominant contributor to UNPK even in future as the participation brings several advantages in military, diplomatic, economic and social arena. Meanwhile, it has also been realised that to make the UNPK more effective, women have to play an important role as there are certain functions which women can perform better. Moreover, their participation ensures that peacekeepers get access to the whole population in the conflict zone. Presence of women in a contingent makes it more acceptable to the locals. This article argues that the participation of women in the UNPK has added value to it and inclusion of Bangladeshi women in the contingent sent by their country has proved useful in implementing the ever-growing
mandate of the UN operations.