As the demand for UN peacekeepers continues to grow in many corners of the world, the United Nations has begun to reform the way it responds to these requests. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has expanded its focus from merely monitoring national forces to an evermore active engagement with the local community through training and advising. This emphasis on capacity-building as an integral component of the peacekeeping mandate has brought about a greater appreciation for the role of female "boots on the ground".

The adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security on 31 October 2000, which requires women to be included in peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding activities, has strengthened the long-standing efforts of the United Nations to encourage Member States to provide more female peacekeepers for its operations. It has further set a prime example of a truly committed approach to advancing gender equality, particularly in areas traditionally reserved exclusively for men, such as security. These efforts culminated in January 2007 with the deployment to Liberia of the first all-female Formed Police Unit (FPU).

Recognized from all sides for their work as part of the United Nations Mission to Liberia (UNMIL), these female officers, who serve in various leadership and tactical positions, not only demonstrate that women can do the job just as well as men, but they also send an important message of empowerment to the local communities they serve. UNMIL Police Commissioner Mohammed Alhassan and Unit Commander Seema Dhundiya are confident that the female peacekeepers will serve as role models for Liberian women. As Mr. Alhassan notes, "we hope that the presence of this all-female contingent will serve as an incentive and an attraction to encourage young Liberian women to join the Liberian National Police". Indeed, General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa reports that "since the contingent's arrival, the number of Liberian women taking steps to join the national police force has increased".

All-female United Nations peacekeepers land in Liberia. UN photo/Eric Kanalstein

The promotion of gender equality and female emancipation is, however, not the only achievement of the all-female police unit. As UN peacekeepers begin to take on a more active role in institution- and service-building in their regions of deployment, constructive interaction with the local civil society becomes of ever greater importance. Along these lines, UNMIL Lieutenant General Chikadibia Isaac Obiakor urged peacekeepers to work to gain the respect and trust of the Liberian people. In this regard, female officers have another significant role to play. Women enjoy receptivity among local populations as they naturally evoke greater trust and openness than their male colleagues. This is particularly true with respect to gender-sensitive issues. UN Police Adviser Mark Kroeker argues that in certain responsibilities female peacekeepers perform better than their male counterparts, namely in sexual assault cases and instances of child abuse where the victims, mostly female, feel more at ease, culturally and emotionally, dealing with a female officer. Overall, Mr. Kroeker acknowledges that police organizations with balanced gender representation motivate trust and respect simply by the fact that they better reflect the mixed gender composition of the communities they serve.

Based on these premises, the successful deployment of the all-female FPU to Liberia was followed by a number of workshops and seminars, which further explored the advantages of increasing the number of female officers in UN missions, as well as the methods and incentives through which the Organization could attract such diverse gender participation from Member States. As demonstrated by the example of the pioneering all-female FPU, through such initiatives the United Nations not only solidifies the equality between women and men in every professional venue, including police and security work, but could also improve the quality of peacekeeping operations themselves.