The fourth point concerns gender. There is a crucial element common to peace...

The fourth point concerns gender. There is a crucial element common to peacekeeping and peacebuilding that is conspicuous by its absence in the concept note for today's debate (S/2013/4, annex). Perhaps the single most transformative step towards ensuring the success of peacekeepers as early peacebuilders would be the deployment of more women on missions. If deployed peacekeeping missions were to reach out to populations in more traditional societies, the deployment of more women would act as a multiplier of peacebuilding potential.