Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, Việt Nam's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. —VNA/VNS Photo 

NEW YORK — Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, Việt Nam's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has affirmed peacekeeping continues to be an important tool to maintain international peace and security, and the UN police (UNPOL) have performed their assigned tasks well and closely coordinated with military and civil units of the mission amid escalating challenges.

Addressing the UN Security Council’s annual meeting on UNPOL on Wednesday (local time), Quý commended the increasing number of women police officers, and specifically, the six women currently serving as heads or deputy heads of the United Nations police components in peacekeeping and special political missions.

He underlined the importance of prioritising, through resources and attention, the promotion of women in peacekeeping operations, including policing activities. 

Further, the international community should enhance training and capacity building support to developing countries, including for women police officers, he said, noting that the percentage of Vietnamese female peacekeepers in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) has increased to 20.6 per cent, from 16.5 per cent in 2020, exceeding the Secretary‑General’s target of 15 per cent for uniform gender parity before 2028.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under‑Secretary‑General for Peace Operations, briefed participants on the implementation of the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative and the Action for Peacekeeping Plus (A4P+) as well as the UNPOL’s contributions to boosting the implementation of priorities of these initiatives.

Violet Lusala, Police Commissioner of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), outlined obstacles to the Mission’s efforts to maintain public order and protect civilians, including the presence of armed elements, intercommunal clashes and cattle rustling.

She said services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence remain non-existent. Highlighting the need for increased United Nations police capacity, she urged the Council to press Sudan and South Sudan to immediately establish the Abyei Police Service.

Patricia Boughani, Police Commissioner of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), called for a shift in mindset to promote a gender perspective, given that few women are deployed in Mali’s security forces in the centre and the north. UNPOL is developing strategies to build women’s dormitories in some regions and providing training, as well as working to financially empower women through quick impact projects.  — VNS