Women Peace & Security Institute - WPSI

Happy women's Day 😃

Today at UN Headquarters in New York, we're marking .

20 years ago, the UN General Assembly passed a mandate to better protect children affected by conflict. This has been critical for work in several peacekeeping missions, including Liberia (United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)), where national authorities worked with the UN to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers. This same work happened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) where the Government has been a dedicated partner to prevent massive recruitment of child soldiers, or kadogo.

Partnerships are vital to ensure and continue the global consensus that children should not be recruited or used in conflict.

More information about children and armed conflict is available here: http://bit.ly/2kjwgzC

Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Ge***al Mutilation (FGM).

FGM is a practice that violates women's rights to health, security and physical integrity, their right to be free from torture and inhuman treat and their right to life. FGM is any procedure that alters or injures female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It is also recognized as a violation of women and girls' human rights.

To stop FGM, the United Nations and the international community use coordinated efforts that engage whole communities while focusing on human rights and gender equality. Communities must be empowered to end FGM and address the devastating consequences for women and girls.

FGM is still practiced in many areas where UN Peackeeping operates, including , , . and .

is important work of our UNICEF and UNFPA partners, who work jointly to end this destructive practice.

Learn more here: http://bit.ly/2kqFxUT

Gambia's new president names female VP who vowed to prosecute Jammeh | News | DW.COM | 24.01.2017 President Adama Barrow has appointed as deputy leader a woman who had vowed to prosecute exiled leader Yahya Jammeh. Barrow, still in Senegal, said the appointment was specifically designed to address gender imbalance.

KAIPTC-WPSI ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION
December 7, 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections

Operationalising Gender for Peace and Security Operations Workshop.
Venue: Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre
Date: 23rd November 2016

Promoting Peace and Unity in Election 2016 through and Public Engagement, the role of Women Leaders, the media and the Youth. Organised by national Council of Women and Traditional Leaders (NCWTL) and Institute for Research, Advocacy and Training (INSRAT) 4th November 2016- Accra.

Today the UN Security Council will hold its annual debate on women, peace and security and the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325).

The resolution addresses not only the inordinate impact of war on women, but also the pivotal role women should and do play in conflict management, conflict resolution, and sustainable peace. Read more on how UNSCR 1325 and its role on UN Peacekeeping here: http://bit.ly/2dDlbTm

You can watch the debate LIVE on UN Web TV: http://webtv.un.org/

Peacekeeping Training for Female Military Officers Several Security Council resolutions on women, peace, and security, as well as commanders on the ground, recognize that women’s leadership and participation ...

Gender and Peacekeeping. United Nations Peacekeeping The United Nations Peacekeeping approach and policy towards handling gender perspectives.

Congratulations to Yvette Boni of Burkina Faso for winning the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award today!

The International Female Police Peacekeeper Award is a competitive award given to an outstanding female police peacekeeper serving in a UN peace operation.

Superintendent Zombre is the first police officer from Burkina Faso to receive the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award.

The award has been bestowed annually since 2011 to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of a female police officer serving the United Nations.

Throughout times of crisis in Bangui, she worked as training officer with the national police and gendarmerie to develop their capacity in criminal investigations.

As president of the female network of police peacekeepers with 122 members in the mission, she took up several initiatives to improve the situation of women. Along with other female police officers in the network, she helped set up shelters for victims of Sexual and Gender-based Violence run by the national police.
To raise awareness, empower women and help build trust in the society, the female police peacekeepers also organized a gathering of over thousand women in Bangui with the theme: “Say No to violence and Yes to peace” earlier in the year.

At a time when allegations of misconduct involving peacekeeping personnel persisted in MINUSCA, she assisted the Office of Internal Oversight with interviewing victims of alleged sexual exploitation and abuse in support of investigations into the allegations.

Today, 1,251 female police officers from 65 countries serve as United Nations police. This is the result of a Global Effort initiative with member states that commenced in 2009 to recruit more women into the United Nations police. As a result, the number of female officers increased from about 900 in 2009 to 1,291 officers in 2016. Yet more remains to be done.

The United Nations Police Division continues to work with member states, advocating for states to contribute more female police officers. This week, 70 female police officers from 26 countries and peacekeeping operations around the world are participating in the International Association of Women Police Conference.

Read more on the award: http://bit.ly/2d0hhn8