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problem. The training regimen that she proposes has the potential to unlock the glass ceiling that
currently keeps many policewomen from impoverished countries from bringing their unique
strengths and insights into play while participating in UN missions. It was nine years ago that this
question was asked during that International Women’s Day ceremony in East Timor. In those nine
years, there has been
very little improvement
in the overall percentage
of women participating
in UN uniformed and
police missions. The
cost to execute this
training, whether by a
mobile training team to a specific country or to a training area where women from various countries
are assembled to receive this training, has a relatively small cost, with the potential for a significant
and measurable outcome. If you can envision women training women, women like Khinu, sharing
their rich experiences and in the process assisting the next generation of women to prepare for
deployment on a UN mission. This is a course of action that can easily be implemented and
tracked. As the UN struggles to overcome the issues of legitimacy created by peacekeepers
themselves violating UNSCR 1325 in the most egregious ways, what could be more useful to the
UN and its credibility than fielding more uniformed female police officers? As Khinu and many
other women involved in both UN staff and field work, this is an idea whose day has come. We
should not make women wait another nine years before we examine this solution set again.

https://thediplomat.com/2017/11/lessons-from-the-uns-women-peace-and-security-agenda/

UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), United Nations Peacekeeping Operations:
Principles and Guidelines, available at:
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/documents/capstone_eng.pdf

https://www.cfr.org/report/how-womens-participation-conflict-prevention-and-resolution-advances-
us-interests

https://www.cfr.org/blog/un-peacekeeping-where-are-all-women

https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/women-peacekeeping

https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/gender

i
United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO), Women in Peacekeeping, available
at: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/women-peacekeeping
ii
ibidem

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