UNAMID’s female Police Advisors are serving in many roles across Darfur, uniquely building trust in communities, assisting in addressing sexual and gender-based violence and promoting the rule of law.

By Sharon Lukunka

As UN peacekeeping operations have evolved to encompass a broader humanitarian approach, an increasing number of women are joining peacekeeping operations. Today, women are deployed in all segments of field operations—in the police, military and civilian components—and continue to make an impact as professionals working in harsh and unforgiving environments. In UNAMID, female Police Advisors serve in many roles and work in all parts of Darfur, patrolling villages and camps for displaced people, assisting in addressing sexual and gender-based violence, building trust among Darfuris and promoting the rule of law.

“The presence of female peacekeepers is essential in Darfur, as the most affected people here are women and children,” says UNAMID Police Commissioner Hester Paneras, who cites incidents of rape as one example of how UNAMID’s police women are making an impact. Commissioner Paneras explains that, in Darfur’s cultural context, women typically would not report rape or talk about it with male authority figures. “But there is a change now,” she says. “My experience is that when they see another woman, their faces light up and find it easier to form a connection; they relate.”

This type of bond is exemplified in the work of the female Police Advisors in the Mission. Ms. Julieth Lyimo and Ms. Faidha Suleman, both of whom work as UNAMID Police Advisors in El Geneina, West Darfur, focus on gender issues and child protection in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). “We work closely with the women in the camps in El Geneina, sharing our personal life experiences with them, lending a hand where we can and advising them on issues of concern,” says Ms. Suleman.

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On 28 November 2013 in El Fasher, North Darfur, UNAMID Police Advisor Maimouna Andji holds an internally displaced woman’s baby during a routine patrol. Police Advisors on patrol interact with displaced men, women and children to identify any issues of concern. Ms. Andji, who is a UNAMID Police focal point for women’s issues in Abu Shouk, served in Darfur in 2005 as part of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS). Photo by Albert González Farran, UNAMID.