Saturday 8 March, General Pascal Champion, MONUSCO Police Component chief chaired the official ceremony for the launch of the Mission’s UNPOL Women’s Committee made up of a dozen women, all of whom members of the MONUSCO UNPOL whose roles consist in enhancing and making visible police contribution to the stabilization of the Democratic Republic of Congo, providing capacity-building for the Congolese National Police force and promoting the protection of the most vulnerable population especially through fighting sexual and gender-based violence as well as respect for legal and human rights texts, said the UNPOL-FPU Women’s Committee Chief, Coumba Ngouye THIAM.

MONUSCO has 156 women including 68 UNPOL and 88 FPU members. FPU’s mission is to protect UN staff and properties whilst UNPOL’s mission consists in providing Mission’s assistance to the DRC Government through the PNC. Women staff within the UNPOL and FPU account for 18% of the Mission’s police officers, which places MONUSCO above the average required being over 10% - 20% for all the Missions. “MONUSCO Police is therefore not far from attaining such a goal,” said Captain Lieutenant Coumba Ngouye Thiam who believes the Committee will help “speed up the momentum for the upgrading of MONUSCO women police personnel.”

For General Champion, MONUSCO UNPOL chief commander, it would be indispensable to increase the number of women in position of command provided their selection is based on competence.

Women’s committee is the materialization of a resolution issued by women police annual meeting last year in Durban, South Africa, the Police Department responsible for the maintenance of Law and order as well as the International Women Police Association. MONUSCO was represented by army chief of staff Esther Gueslar Djerang while PNC delegated 7 women senior officers.

MONUSCO/Crispin Nlanda