26/1/2007
Indian All Female UN Police Unit Arrives In Liberia
The commander of an all-female Indian United Nations police unit has
arrived in Liberia as part of an advance team that will pave the way for
the landmark deployment of a 125-strong force later this month, the first
time the world body has sent an all women specialized police unit to a
peacekeeping operation.
Commander Seema Dhundiya, who will head the Formed Police Unit (FPU),
arrived in the capital Monrovia lasttuesday along with logistics and
engineering specialists who will prepare for the rest of her unit, which is
expected to arrive around 29 January, said UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
spokesman Ben Dotsei Malor.
The FPU contingent will consist of 125 personnel, made up of 103 female
officers and 22 male staff serving in logistics roles. The women will be
formed into three platoons of 30 women each, comprising one platoon leader
and 29 officers, and while the contingent will be based in Monrovia they
may be deployed anywhere in the country.
India’s decision to send the all female officers to assist the UNMIL
operation was announced last September and over the past few months the
team has been undergoing intensive training. The UN has had increasing
success with FPU’s over the past few years as a means of bridging the gap
between regular and lightly armed police and fully armed blue helmets.
The FPU, which will be better armed than a regular unit, will provide
general support to UN police activities in Liberia, including protecting UN
officials and civilian police as they perform their duties, plus also
acting as a rapid reaction force for crowd control and helping train local
police officers, the world body said.
The female FPU represents further effort by the UN to attract women police
officers into their peacekeeping operations worldwide, because as of the
end of 2006 while there were around 8,482 staff serving worldwide, only 454
– around four per cent – were women officers.
In a related development, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in
Liberia Alan Doss urged all young women who are interested in joining
the country’s police to apply to a UN-backed programme that aims to bring
the educational level of potential recruits up to a high enough standard
that they can apply to join.
“This is an opportunity to not only enhance your education, but, if you
successfully pass the test, you can join the LNP (Liberia National Police)
and help make a difference to your country, especially the women of this
country,” he said.
The Vice-President of Liberia, Joseph Boakai launched the pioneering
Education Support Programme for potential female recruits of the LNP at the
Education Ministry in Monrovia, a programme that was planned and
implemented by the UN Police, the LNP, and the Ministries of Education,
Justice and Gender & Development.
Mr. Doss said that the programme was initiated to meet the target of 20 per
cent female representation in the LNP, adding that it is not about lowering
standards but about helping women raise their standards of education so
that they can join the national police force.
In a separate development, the Deputy Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Recovery and Governance, Jordan Ryan, travelled with
Liberia’s Minister of Finance, Antoinette M. Sayeh, to Maryland County on
Saturday to assess the reconstruction needs after the devastation caused by
14 years of civil war.
“We are delighted to join forces with the Government of Liberia and have
this fact-finding visit to see how the Government and the United Nations
can work together to address the needs of the county,” Mr. Ryan told UNMIL
Radio.
