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This article examines how host-state consent affects the implementation of different sets of Protection of Civilians (POC) activities. Given the centrality of POC to UN peacekeeping, it is therefore important to understand the factors impacting its implementation. We argue that effectively conducting POC-activities – including supporting state capacity-building, human rights reporting, physical protection, and supporting dialogue – hinges on host-state consent. Based on an analysis of UNMISS and MINUSCA, this article provides support for our argument that the quality of host-state consent can significantly affect the implementation of UN peacekeepers’ POC-activities, but shows that such impacts are not necessarily uniform across different sets of efforts.

Peacekeepers are widely viewed as being at growing risk of deliberate violence. Attacks are recorded in diverse contexts, targeting peace operations implemented by the UN and other deploying bodies. Such incidents can carry grave personal costs for those immediately affected but may also adversely impact interveners' ability to operate effectively and deliver on their mandates. Concerns of rising threats have led to growing attention to peacekeepers' safety and security in policy-circles. As a topic of scientific inquiry, however, violence against peacekeepers has only recently seen a growth in interest, and systematic study has so far been sparse. This chapter reviews theoretical and empirical advances in this emerging area of research. To do so, it distinguishes two main sets of research on the topic: one set oriented toward exploring patterns and trends, and one devoted to explanation. The chapter concludes by outlining possible directions for future research.

Safety and security of United Nations (UN) peacekeepers is a ‘top priority’ for the UN and has been made a focus-area of the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative. Risk stemming from the threat of deliberate acts of violence against peacekeeping personnel, in particular, has come into focus. Many aspects related to violence against UN peacekeepers remain poorly understood even though they matter for safeguarding effective operations and mandate implementation. Recent years’ advances to protect UN peacekeepers from harm have heavily focused on improving their access to training and equipment. Added efforts to track and analyse patterns of attacks, including drivers and wider consequences, can also contribute to the safety and security of peacekeeping personnel. This background paper highlights some key findings from existing studies by scholars to stimulate discussion at the 2022 Challenges Annual Forum CAF22.

Peacekeepers in cities face particular challenges because cities are densely populated and heterogeneous, encompass multiple terrains and fluid features, and host key assets of political, economic and strategic importance. Attacks targeting peacekeepers in cities constitute a recurrent problem, but how do they affect a peace operation’s activities? We theorise the effects of such violence on three outcomes: patrolling and outreach, use of force, and the establishment of new bases. We explore these dynamics by analysing intra-city dynamics of violence and operational activity following attacks on African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia, from initial deployment in 2007 through 2009. We use the geo-referenced UCDP Peacemakers at Risk (PAR) dataset and extend it by coding specific city sub-locations for incidences of violence, allowing us to analyse the spatiality of violence involving peacekeepers in Mogadishu. The evidence suggests that during its first three years, attacks on AMISOM significantly hampered its ability to spread out in the city and operate effectively, but did not evidently alter wider patterns of violence in the city. Despite these challenges, AMISOM managed to fulfil the core element of its mandate: preventing the overthrow of the Somali Transitional Federal Government.

This article introduces new event data on violence against peacekeepers deployed to conflict-affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa between 1989 and 2009. While the practice of peacekeeping is often described as fraught with risk, a shortage of data has left scholars poorly equipped to study this important phenomenon. The Peacemakers at Risk (PAR) dataset records reported incidences of violence resulting in direct peacekeeping personnel fatalities, injuries and kidnappings. Information on the timing, location, outcomes and actors implicated is provided for each recorded event, including information on the nationalities of violence-affected peacekeepers. The dataset also charts reports of fatal violence by peacekeepers. This enables the study of peacekeepers' use of force and provides a new lens for examining wider questions related to peacekeeping effects and conflict dynamics. Peace operations deployed by the UN as well as other peacekeeping actors are included, allowing for a rich dataset that reflects today's diverse peacekeeping landscape. The PAR dataset makes possible the evaluation of reigning assumptions regarding peacekeeping intervention and risk, and allows scholars to pose research questions regarding the causes, characteristics and consequences of peacekeeper violence, within and across interventions. This article introduces the criteria and procedures guiding the data collection and presents the data. The article also highlights key patterns emerging from the dataset and identifies a number of potential applications and avenues for future research.

In recent years, international third parties have increasingly sought to manage the dire consequences of civil war, often by deploying peacekeeping operations. However, peacekeepers sometimes face deliberate attacks by armed groups. These attacks hamper efforts to provide humanitarian relief and security. This raises a critical question: what factors lead rebel groups to target peacekeepers? We argue that internal conflict dynamics are important for explaining this phenomenon. Rebels attack peacekeepers as an alternative strategy to undermine incumbent regimes. They adopt this strategy as the balance of power turns against them in their struggle against governments. We evaluate our argument using a novel event data set on violent attacks on peacekeepers in sub-Saharan Africa from 1989 to 2009. We find a positive relationship between rebel losses and violent attacks on peacekeepers. These findings hold when controlling for mission-specific characteristics, time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity, and across different model specifications.