Page 24 - The CoESPU Magazine N 1 - 2018

the door for more women to participate in peacekeeping missions, and to this end she formulated
her training proposal.
The first issue is driving proficiency. Many of the women police officers from Police Contributing
Countries come from
lower socio-economic
levels where they do not
have access to a vehicle -
not in their immediate or
extended families. It is
therefore unreasonable to
expect them to be able to
drive without first having the opportunity to drive a vehicle enough to understand its basic
functionality.
The second issue is shooting. Women entering the police forces, often because of cultural barriers
that relegate them to “women’s roles” primarily serve in areas of administration and seldom have
the opportunity to learn to shoot properly. Providing these women with a training program focused
on the fundamentals of shooting would allow them to pass the UN pre-deployment testing.
The third issue is English language skills. In order for a person to function on a UN staff, they must
have a good grasp of basic English. Most of these policewomen are coming from economically

challenged environments, where they never had a reason, nor the opportunity, to learn English.
Khinu has proposed a solution that is both elegant and parsimonious. As academics and specialists
around the globe struggle to increase women’s participation in all aspects of UN peacekeeping and
policing, Khinu utilized her experience, both personal and professional, to frame a solution to this

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