Zambia: A new grant supports Female Peacekeepers

A medal is awarded to a female police officer from Zambia for her participation in the UN mission to maintain peace in South Sudan (UNMISS). African Media Agency (AMA), New York, USA, February 9, 2023.

A trust fund run by UN Women announced that Zambia's police force will receive nearly $1 million to increase women's participation in international peace operations. Auditor General of Police LemmyKajoba said, "My Command appreciates the acknowledgement of female officers as a facilitator of proactive measures within the Zambia Police Service." 

We take seriously our responsibility for advancing policy changes, promoting gender mainstreaming, and holding ourselves accountable for sexual equality and women's empowerment.

Rostering more female officers

The new initiative, funded by a $932,072 grant from the Elsie Innovation Fund for Plain clothed Women in Peace Operations, and in accordance with Human Rights council efforts, including its milestone resolution 1325, aims to assist in removing gender barriers that prevent women from participating in UN peace operations (2000).

The Zambia project aims to compile a list of further than 100 women qualified for peacekeeping deployment. The fund was launched by Canada in 2019 to ensure equal opportunities in peacekeeping and assist in achieving UN gender parity goals. It collaborates with local governments and UN field operations.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP), which itself is carrying out a number of projects, including the one in Zambia, collaborates with the partners.

Bringing down barriers

Several benchmarks have been established by the UN Peace officers Gender Parity Initiative for 2018 to 2028 to address the low representation of women in uniform peacekeeping.

The targets are 15% female military peacekeeping in troop contingents, 20% female police in organized police units, 25% female military observation and commanding officers, and 30% female individual police officers by 2028.

Monthly gender data, along with the proportion of female personnel in peace operations, are kept by UN Police to monitor progress. Zambia, one of the top contributors of uniformed people to UN peacekeeping, was one of seven nations that launched research in 2020 to analyze obstacles.

Findings revealed a lack of information on deployments and accommodations that were appropriate for women officers. In addition, the assessment revealed that women experience more social shame and parental duties in the home and community than males do.

To effectively distribute information on deployment, particularly in remote and isolated areas, the national police agency will also train and extend its networks of regional focal points.

The creation of a policy against sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse as well as the delivery of seminars on gender mainstreaming and related training to top Zambian police employees are also planned.

Recent strides

These positive developments reflect Zambia's recent efforts to advance women's rights and guarantee an even playing field in matters of peace and security. In 2014, the Zambian government updated its country's gender policy, and a year later it passed the Gender Equality Act.

Currently, Zambia, UNDP, and Canada are collaborating to create a gender-specific policy for the national police service.

The Zambia Police Service has vowed to make sure that sexual identity training is institutionalized within the training curriculum and to continue to fund, train, and make preparations for police officers, particularly women, for rollout to UN peace operations to guarantee the long-term viability of these project outcomes.

Senior Zambia Police Service and UNDP executives will serve as co-chairs of a project oversight group, which will offer strategic direction to ensure development.

The Elsie Fund has also csr and financial to the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and UN Interim Force in Lebanon, who are supporting similar pilot projects in Ghana and Senegal (UNIFIL).

The Elsie MacGill Fund has provided funding for initiatives in 16 nations and UN peacekeeping deployments. Elsie MacGill was Canada's first female aeronautical engineer and oversaw the country's manufacturing of Hawker Hurricane fighter planes throughout World War II.