‘Unpacking’ the gender perspective at UN Peacekeeping Operations: A case study of MINUSCA through a feminist lens

Since the approval of United Nations Resolution 1325 in 2000, gender perspectives have started to play a significant role in processes of peacebuilding and peace-transformation within UN peacekeeping. According to the United Nations, working towards gender equality is one of the keys to constructing a better and a just peace. The contribution of this perspec-tive to Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) is to highlight different roles played by women and men in societies and the disproportional violence that women face, in conflict situations. The gender perspective points to the importance of incorporating women into the military and other components of PKOs, emphasizing the significance of women in decision-making. Resolution 1325 was implemented as part of the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). Under Brazilian Captain Márcia Braga, who worked as a gender adviser in the mission from 2018 to 2019, a gender perspective was implemented in all components of the mission: civilian, police and military. The focus of this research is to analyse, from a critical feminist perspective, the possibilities and limits of the gender perspective developed by the UN in PKOs and to examine the limits and possibilities of the role of a gender adviser. This will be done through the case study of MINUSCA.