Zambia: New grant gives boost to women peacekeepers

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“My command appreciates the recognition of women officers as a catalyst for systemic change within the Zambian police service,” said Police Inspector General Lemmy Kajoba. “We take our role in promoting policy reform, ensuring gender mainstreaming and accountability for gender equality and empowering women within our institution very seriously.”

Rosters for more female officers

The new project aims to help overcome this existing gender barriers to women’s participation in UN peacekeeping operationssupported by a $932,072 grant from the Elsie Initiative Fund for Uniformed Women in Peace Operations and consistent with Security Council Efforts, including its landmark Resolution 1325 (2000).

The Zambia project plans to create a list of more than 100 women who could be used as peacekeepers.

The fund was established by Canada in 2019 to set the stage for peacekeeping and to help achieve the UN gender parity goals. The fund works with national authorities and UN operations on the ground.

The partners work with the UN Development Program (UNDP), which implements a number of projects, including the one in Zambia.

break down barriers

To address the small number of women in uniformed peacekeeping who UN Uniform Gender Parity Strategy for 2018 to 2028 has set a number of benchmarks.

The target for 2028 is: 15 percent female military peacekeepers in contingents, 20 percent female police officers in formed police units, 25 percent female military observers and staff officers, and 30 percent female police officers.

The UN police carry out the tracking of progress on a monthly basis gender dataincluding the number of women officers in peacekeeping operations.

Zambia is among seven countries to have piloted a 2020 Obstacle Identification Study, which is a top contributor of uniformed personnel to UN peacekeeping.

Findings revealed a lack of appropriate housing for female officers and available information about deployments. The assessment also found that women face more household and community constraints than men, such as B. Parental responsibility and social stigma.

Build to overcome barriers

The new scholarship aims to address these challenges. Construction of a new facility to accommodate 40 women officers and a daycare center for 15 children is on schedule, which should improve access for women officers to training exercises.

The National Police Service will also train and expand its network of regional focal points to systematically disseminate mission-related information, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Also planned is the development of a policy against sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse and the introduction of relevant training and gender mainstreaming workshops for senior Zambian police officers.

Current progress

These forward steps follow Zambia’s recent steps in promoting women’s rights and ensuring a level playing field in peace and security. The government of Zambia revised a national gender equality policy in 2014 and enacted the Gender Equality Act a year later.

Zambia, UNDP and Canada are now working together to develop a tailor-made gender equality policy for the national police service.

To ensure the sustainability of these project outcomes, the Zambian Police Service has committed to ensuring that gender-sensitive training is institutionalized in the training curriculum and to continuing to fund, train and prepare police officers, particularly women, for deployment to UN peacekeeping operations.

A project oversight committee, co-chaired by senior Zambian police services and UNDP officials, will provide strategic guidance to ensure progress.

The Elsie Fund supports similar pilot projects in Ghana and Senegal and has also spent grants to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Named for Elsie MacGill, Canada’s first female aeronautical engineer, who oversaw national production of Hawker Hurricane fighter jets during World War II, the fund has supported projects in 16 countries and UN peacekeeping missions.

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