Hannah Smidt
Title
Prof. PhD
Last Name
Smidt
First name
Hannah
Email
hannah.smidt@unisg.ch
ORCID
Web Site
3 results
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Item type:Publication, International Complaints Mechanism and State Respect for Human Rights(2026); Type:conference contribution - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Peacekeeping without helmets: Do civilian deployments help protect civilians?(2024)Can civilian personnel of UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) help protect civilians in conflict-affected countries? Existing studies on peacekeepers' effectiveness in protecting civilians are limited to uniformed personnel. This manuscript shifts the research focus to the civilian dimension of protection. It argues that civilian personnel reduce noncombatant targeting through manipulating its perceived efficiency. First, through their presence and monitoring activity, civilian peacekeepers raise reputational costs for onesided violence. Second, through facilitating local resistance to armed groups, civilian peacekeepers increase domestic costs of one-sided violence. Third, through supporting peaceful settlements, civilian peacekeepers increase the benefits of refraining from one-sided violence. Finally, through their information support to UN military operations, civilian peacekeepers augment the military costs for one-sided violence. All four mechanisms likely apply more to non-state armed groups than government-sponsored armed groups, because the former are most susceptible to international detection, domestic consequences, local conflict settlement and military costs. Using original data on local deployments of civilian personnel in 12 peacekeeping operations in Sub-Saharan Africa (1998-2021) together with existing data on local military deployments, spatial models test these arguments. The argument receives partial support. In the 2000-2011 period, civilian peacekeepers in greater numbers are negative associated with atrocities committed by non-state armed groups. The results have important implications for the composition and activity of PKOs with protection mandates.Type:conference contribution - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Pre-analysis plan for: Citizen-focused strategic communication: Does UN radio persuade people to trust the peace operations in Mali?(2023-06-18)Peace missions of the United Nations (UN) use radio communication to reach out to the citizens of their host countries. Does listening to UN radio augment or reduce citizens' trust in the peacekeepers and, if it has an effect, through which mechanisms? What are the impact of UN radio on value orientation or attitudes toward the government? The survey experiment in Mali (June 2023) examines these questions.Type:conference contribution