Pakistan’s UN female peacekeeper wins award for gender advocacy work

UNITED NATIONS: The Pakistan Army’s Major Sania Safdar, who’s serving with the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), has turn into its first peacekeeper to obtain the 2023 “Certificate of Recognition” for advocating gender equality, based on the mission.

The award, issued by the New York-based UN Department for Peace Operations, was offered to her by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Cyprus, Colin Stewart.

“Receiving this certificates as the primary peacekeeper from UNFICYP is deeply significant to me and vital for our mission in Cyprus,” Maj Safdar stated. “It serves as a testomony to our dedication to gender equality.”

Created in 2016, the UN’s “Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award” recognises the dedication and efforts of a person army peacekeeper in selling the ideas of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).

In addition to the award, the Department for Peace Operations additionally recognises army personnel from different UN Missions who’re contributing to advancing the WPS’ agenda in several nations the place peacekeeping operations are in place.

In Cyprus, Major Safdar is presently serving because the Mission’s Force Signal Officer and one of many UNFICYP’s army gender focal factors. Her major duties contain overseeing communication programs and selling gender equality throughout the army element.

Since her deployment final yr, she proactively took cost of a number of initiatives to contribute to attaining this recognition by specializing in integrating the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda into army parts of the mission’s work, the mission stated.

As the mission’s drive sign officer serving within the subject expertise part, she was additionally concerned in strengthening the effectiveness of joint patrols by incorporating communication instruments to reinforce army operations on the bottom whereas selling gender illustration within the army.

Participation of ladies in peacekeeping missions brings various views and expertise that improve operational effectiveness and foster inclusive approaches to battle decision, based on the mission. Their significant participation promotes gender equality inside operations, contributing to extra complete and sustainable peace efforts.

“UNFICYP is on a gradual curve to extend its statistics on the variety of girls in peacekeeping in addition to selling their participation whereas participating with Member States to encourage additional illustration of uniformed girls as vital actors in fulfilling the Mission’s mandate.”

Major Safdar’s recognition award serves as a “testomony to UNFICYP’s dedication to gender equality”, it added.