More female UN peacekeepers urged

TOKYO – Officials from the United Nations and a private think tank have urged countries that deploy troops to international peacekeeping missions to increase the number of female peacekeepers, especially in regions where sexual violence is a serious problem.

UN Special Representative on sexual violence in conflict Zainab Hawa Bangura and Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security executive director Melanne Verveer made the call at the recently concluded World Assembly for Women here.

Bangura and Verveer stressed the advantages of a strong presence of female peacekeepers in conflict and post-conflict zones, including creating a safer space for women who have suffered sexual violence.

“The challenge is how to encourage governments of contributing countries to have more women in their battalions that they are offering,” Bangura said.

Verveer said women are often victims of sexual violence in conflict areas and certainly deserve protection.

“But women are not only victims, they are agents of change who are critical actors in bringing sustainable peace,” Verveer added.

She said the international community should include the women’s perspective and participation in all stages of peace building and resilience and integrate gender perspective in all government decision-making on peace and security issues.

“We need to tap women in peace and security and ensure that the resources are available to support these efforts,” Verveer said.

In 2000, Resolution 1325 of the United Nations Security Council called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to “progress on gender mainstreaming throughout peacekeeping missions and all other aspects related to women and girls.”

Ban launched a campaign in August 2009 to lift the percentage of women peacekeepers to 20 percent in police units by 2014, and to 10 percent in military contingents.

Last year, Navy Capt. Luzviminda Camacho was designated commander of the Philippine contingent to the UN peacekeeping force in troubled Haiti. She is the first female Filipino officer to head a Philippine peacekeeping force.

Lea Angela Biason of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) said the first all-female Formed Police Unit (FPU) that was deployed in Liberia in 2007 made a substantial difference to the women victimized in rampant sexual violence during the country’s civil war.

The UN Mission in Liberia noted that after the deployment of Indian female peacekeepers, the percentage of women in the national police force rose from 13 percent in 2008 to 15 percent in 2009.