Vietnam calling for more women officers in peacekeeping operations

Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN. Source: VOV

Addressing the UN Security Council’s annual briefing on UN peacekeeping and police forces held in the form of video conference on November 4, Quy reiterated Vietnam’s support for UN peacekeeping activities and initiatives.

The ambassador underscored the enhanced role and significant contribution of UN police to the maintenance of peace and response to COVID-19 in countries.

He then said he wished to see more women in formed police units, emphasising that the deployment of women police officers has a long-term and positive impact on the ground.

To achieve greater participation of women, measures must be taken to ensure their safety and create an enabling work environment. Stressing the importance of supporting developing countries who contribute police to UN missions, he noted that Viet Nam is training personnel and will be able to dispatch qualified police officers starting in 2021.

The annual briefing heard reports presented by Alexandre Zouev, Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions at the UN Department of Peace Operations, and the heads of UN police components of three UN peacekeeping operations and one special political mission.

In their discussions, participating UN member nations highlighted the important role of UN police in the protection of civilians and capacity-building for police forces in host countries. They also called for a greater presence of women in peacekeeping missions and the implementation of commitments in the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative.

The mission of UN police is to enhance international peace and security by supporting member states in conflict, post-conflict, and other crisis situations. More than 11,000 UN police officers from 90 countries are now taking part in 12 peacekeeping missions.

UN police have already achieved intermediate gender parity targets for 2020, continuing to engage with police-contributing countries to surpass those marks, including at the command levels. Currently three of the Organization’s police components are headed by women.

Tu Pham