INTERNATIONAL: Taking Up Arms in Support of Women Peacekeepers Around the World

Armed with AK-47s and a unique insight, female soldiers may be the future of United Nations peace building.

“[W]e are working to enhance our female presence as a peacekeeping force,” said Under-Secretary-General Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women and former president of Chile to MediaGlobal.“We are already in Bangladesh and India as specifically women forces but we need to expand that capacity because we believe that's important; female forces can reach women in a better way.”

UN Women, a new super group devoted to women's empowerment, considers expanding the leadership of women in building and maintaining peace as a primary objective, one that has seen progress with the group's partnership with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).

Approximately six out of ten women are physically or sexually assaulted during their lives, many of them during armed conflict where rape is used as a weapon of war. UN Women, which began operations on 24 January, made pledges to combat this violence against women in conflicts.

“Our role is more to raise awareness of issues such as sexual violence, advocate that steps be taken to stop it by the international community and national governments, [and] train women to take actions within their countries,” said Gretchen Luchsinger, UN Women Media Specialist to MediaGlobal.

UN Women intends to help augment these DPKO female corps through training modules aimed to increase their effectiveness. These modules will use UN female units as peace builders on the ground to teach local women self-defense and community policing.

“Female peacekeepers act as role models in the local environment, inspiring women and girls in often male-dominated societies to push for their own rights and for participation in peace processes,” reads DPKO's website.

The DPKO asserts that female peacekeepers have many added benefits over their male counterparts while equally capable in the field. These range from an increased sense of security for local populations to the ability to communicate with women who are the victims of violence or cannot talk to men directly due to social norms.

“But also it shows that women can do anything, and that is symbolically empowering because they see women engaging in very important issues,” said Bachelet.

DPKO currently operates three all-female corps. The first female unit was recruited from India, and has been active since 2007 as a part of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). The two others, a Bangladeshi unit stationed in Haiti, and a Samoan unit in
Timor, have seen comparable success.

Since then, the total number of female peacekeepers has more than doubled, from 1,486 to 3,332. While women still comprise a small portion of all armed UN personnel, approximately 3.33 percent to date, the UN Police Division is trying to increase female police members to 20 percent by 2014.

Aside from self-defense, UN Women is also beginning initiatives to train local women in trade skills with the aid of the female soldiers stationed near them. The Indian corps has been a part of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) since 2007, where they have been training girls and young women.

“The impact of investing in girls is intergenerational,” said Tamara Kreinin, Executive Director of Women & Population at the United Nations Foundation. “The well-being of adolescent girls is the key to eliminating poverty, achieving social justice, stabilizing the population, and preventing foreseeable humanitarian crises.”

The Indian UNMIL contingent has been engaged in teaching girls computer skills, arts, and providing medical training. Aligned with the goals of UN Women, these soldiers are effectively protecting women and also providing them the tools to empower themselves both physically and mentally.

“One of the ways that UN Women is championing the world's women and girls is by expanding and elevating their voice, leadership and participation overall,” said Kreinin. “Having active engagement and leadership at the national, regional and/or local level is critical if UN Women hopes to keep governments accountable and help plant the roots of women's empowerment in these communities across the globe.”

With the continued support of UN Women and DPKO, more of these all-female corps will likely be deployed in the next few years. So far they have proven a multi-faceted tool to foster peacebuilding globally, and may become indispensible in the near future.