UN Peacekeeping in Africa: A Critical Examination and Recommendations for Improvement by Kwame Akonor

Abstract

The book titled ‘UN Peacekeeping in Africa: A Critical Examination and Recommendations for Improvement’, authored by Kwame Akonor,2 lays out a significant overview of the UN peace operations in the African region. The argument of this book revolves around those circumstances where the peacekeepers themselves become the perpetrators of crime; thereby, this book represents the ‘dark side’ of the U.N. peacekeeping, which remains a fundamental problem in jeopardizing the future of peacekeeping. By reviewing the reports and publications on UN Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA),3 Akonor discusses four factors regarding why abuses occur and why the abusers barely face criminal prosecution. The paramount factor in the book is the prevailing hyper-masculinity in the military culture and the tendency to protect each other against civilian complaints. The other two factors include the economic deprivation and variation in the legal and cultural system among the Troop Contributing Countries (TCC). Finally, the physical and psychological repercussions of conflict on civilians expose them to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA).