ABSTRACT
While formal decisions and policies now exist at the strategic level to enhance women's participation in peace operations and missions, the mere existence of such documents does not produce concrete results. By now, the UN, NATO, EU and the OSCE provide information on the trends of actual participation of women and men in military, police and civilian personnel categories. To support the development of research and implementation of policy, this chapter identifies and discusses women's participation in these organizations’ field missions respectively. More knowledge about women's deployment is essential for unpacking explanations and designing new strategies. In addition, it is further motivated by the issue being central to ongoing debates: what potential impact could women's participation have on effectiveness, on gender mainstreaming and on implementation of UNSCR 1325 in international operations?
