GHANA: Ghana Gets Commendation for Providing 28% of UN Peacekeeping Policewomen

Date: 
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Source: 
The Mail
Countries: 
Africa
Western Africa
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
Participation
Peacekeeping

“I commend Ghana for being among the top contributors of women police officers to United Nations peacekeeping operations,” said Ann-Marie Orler, the highest ranking police official in the UN system. In a statement issued at the UN Headquarters in New York, Ms Orler, the Police Adviser for the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said “Ghana's contribution of 97 women officers, or 28% of its 343 police contribution was helping the organization make progress towards its goal of having women make up 20% of its police deployed to UN peace operations.”

“In 2009 the United Nations had around 7 per cent female representation in the police it deployed and today we are half-way with 10.4 per cent. Not good enough, but on the right track,” said Ms. Orler.

Ghana currently deploys police officers to five peacekeeping missions, including in Darfur, Sudan (UNAMID), Kosovo (UNMIK), Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), Liberia (UNMIL) and South Sudan (UNMISS).

UN Police officers are deployed to UN peacekeeping operations and special political missions in countries emerging from conflict to help build accountable and trusted police services -- which are essential for security and the rule of law, for the protections of civilians and for democratic governance.

“We are not making this effort only because of the Security Council resolutions calling on peacekeeping to have a greater gender balance, but also because female police officers play an important role as, security providers, mediators, investigators and trainers in reconstructing police services around the world.

They have a major impact as role models for the populations whom they serve,” said Ms. Orler.

“In other words we need more female officers in order to better implement the mandates that we are given. It does, as we see time and again, make a difference,” said the UN Police Adviser.