| PORTRAIT |

Wiem Chadlia Jrad is from Tunisia. This 47-year-old police commissioner has long cherished the hope of working for the United Nations, since childhood. "Working for the United Nations was a childhood dream that grew up with me and later became one of my professional and personal goals," she said.

It was in 2002 that the dream began to materialize. "After acquiring experience with the fight against illegal immigration and general intelligence, judicial police and child protection, I submitted my application for a position within the United Nations ; unfortunately, this kind of application and project were not encouraged by our Ministry at the time. " 

Far from being discouraged, which is not in her DNA, our young police officer went on developing her skills in several fields and specialties, inter alia : judicial coordination and international cooperation, strategic planning, administrative management, stress management, investigation and fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, leadership…“I kept on struggling for the promotion of the status of the policewomen, I should recall that I was one of the founding members of the Tunisian National League of Policewomen in 2015 which I continue to lead today, ”she says with pride.

 

…I kept on struggling for the promotion of the status of the policewomen, I should recall that I was one of the founding members of the Tunisian National League of Policewomen in 2015 which I continue to lead today, ”she says with pride.

The opportunity arose in 2014 when she was selected and invited to join the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC, MONUSCO. For two and a half years, during her first mission (September 2015 - March 2018), she assumed several positions : Judicial Police and Intelligence Training Advisor, Gender and Family and Child Protection Focal Point, Liaison Officer and inspector, chief of the internal audit and evaluation unit of the police component, etc.

Since her redeployment in March 2019, Wiem Chadlia Jrad has held the position of chief of the UNPOL sector in Bunia. Of course she is faced with challenges in her daily work which she handles with professionalism and dynamism : "the main challenge remains insecurity".

She carries out her day-to-day work with a fast and steady pace. As a real and efficient team leader, she likes going down to the field with her colleagues of the United Nations Police or her partners from the Congolese National Police : she is sometimes on joint reconnaissance missions of the strategic points in the city of Bunia to ensure that the city's security plan is up to date ; sometimes whe is with MONUSCO Force to assess the security situation in the territories of Djugu Mambasa.

She also regularly visits IDP sites to identify their security, humanitarian and health needs as well as to coordinate the response with all the stakeholders. Training and retraining of the Congolese National Police are also part of her expertise.

Wiem Chadlia Jrad is committed to supporting vulnerable women. This is how she initiated the creation of small income-generating activities, as was the case with the Kipangi Association (Fraternity, in French) of the Police Border District in Bunia where Women have since launched an activity on making home-made soap and other disinfectant products. She regularly organizes awareness sessions against the spread of the covid-19 for women in Bunia.

Convinced that women peacekeepers are an asset for Peacekeeping, this activist for the cause of women firmly believes that “women can always serve as a role model in most fields and specialties; she is the dynamo of all success. "

In this respect, she went on to list some of the qualities that women should put forward to succeed and be able to work for the United Nations like her: "To have a strong personality, to be able to both serve vulnerable populations and know how to cope with hate from this category as well as support them to overcome their disabilities and encourage them to face all sorts of security threats and gender-based sexual abuse or discrimination; Being on the ground day and night, patrolling and supervising the security situation, raising awareness and training partners and the population, setting an example of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity are the many factors that argue in favor of the importance of the role of women ”.

And this is not wishful thinking. Wiem Chadlia Jrad is bursting with energy and ready to share her experience with the women in DR Congo and around the world.