From where I stand: “Although the situation is unpredictable, we are still working to maintain peace”

Date: Thursday, May 28, 2020

Lieutenant Dr. Arya Khadka is a Nepali peacekeeper serving as a medical officer with the United Nations Mission (MINUSCA) in Bambari, Central African Republic, where prevention efforts are being implemented to deter the COVID-19 outbreak. In a recent Instagram interview with UN Peacekeeping leading up to the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, Lt. Dr. Khadka shared some of the challenges as well as what motivates her. This story has been written based on her interview.

Inclusive peace in Afghanistan means ‘women at the centre’, urges UN deputy chief in Kabul

Date: Sunday, July 21, 2019

The UN deputy chief issued an impassioned plea on Sunday for Afghans to reconcile with the past and put “women at the centre” of all efforts to forge a durable peace, and a truly inclusive political process where women’s voices are truly heard.

Statement by UN Women Executive Director for the International Day of UN Peacekeepers

Date: Tuesday, May 28, 2019

In her statement for International Day of UN Peacekeepers, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka highlights the important role women peacekeepers play in tackling critical issues, such as helping to make the peacekeeping force approachable to women in the community, interacting with women in societies where they are prohibited from speaking to men, and addressing the specific needs of female ex-combatants as they reintegrate into civilian life.

The Elsie Initiative Fund launched to increase uniformed women in UN peacekeeping

Date: Friday, March 29, 2019

Today, a little more than five per cent of uniformed personnel in UN peacekeeping forces are women. At an event in New York on 28 March, UN Women, in partnership with the Government of Canada, the office of the UN Secretary-General, the UN Department of Peace Operations, and the UN Development Programme’s Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office, launched the Elsie Initiative Fund for uniformed women in Peace operations (Elsie Initiative) to increase meaningful participation of uniformed women in UN peacekeeping operations.

In the words of Captain Anaseini Navua Vuniwaqa: “There is a need for female peacekeepers”

Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Captain Anaseini Navua Vuniwaqa of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, participated in the ninth edition of the Female Military Officers’ Course in April 2018. The course aims to bridge the gender gap in UN peacekeeping. Women currently represent only 4 per cent of the more than 80,000 UN Peacekeepers, despite their key role in preventing sexual violence during and after conflict, and their unique abilities to engage with the communities they serve, especially women and girls. Captain Vuniwaqa spoke to UN Women about women’s role in preventing sexual violence during and after conflict, and their unique abilities to engage with the communities they serve.