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The deployment of more women police officers is key to enhancing the effectiveness of United Nations peace operations, speakers told the Security Council during a 4 November videoconference meeting, highlighting the importance of a gender balance in community outreach, patrol and confidence-building.
“Gender-responsive policing is essential for effective UN and host-State policing, and to ensure that the different security needs of men, women, boys and girls are taken into account,” said Alexandre Zouev, Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions in the Department of Peace Operations, adding that United Nations police is making gender-responsive work a priority.
He said that United Nations police have already achieved intermediate gender parity targets for 2020, continuing to engage with police-contributing countries to surpass those marks, including at the command levels. Currently three of the Organization’s police components are headed by women.
Highlighting the vital role of United Nations police across the spectrum of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, Mr. Zouev said that police components have been facilitating the drawdown of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), and its transition to the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), by ensuring adequate interim policing capacities to protect civilians and prevent a relapse into conflict.
In the Central African Republic, United Nations police help national capacity-building, including by assisting with the recruitment and training of gendarmerie and cadets, he reported, adding that they have been instrumental in raising awareness about preventing the spread of COVID-19 and have distributed personal protective equipment, hygiene products and medical supplies particularly to the most vulnerable communities.
Turning to performance and accountability of police components, he said that the United Nations, through the Integrated Peacekeeping Performance and Assessment Framework and the Comprehensive Performance and Assessment System, has implemented standards to further evaluate the impact of deployed officers and address cases of underperformance. Aligning pre-deployment training by Member States with the Organization’s in-mission training is central to enhancing performance, he continued, adding that the Department of Peace Operations continues to develop standardized training modules.
United Nations police have also continued to reinforce zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, including through pre-deployment and in-mission training, and have taken measures to reduce their environmental footprint, he said. Climate insecurity, the devastating consequences of which have been laid bare by COVID-19, is a growing threat multiplier for United Nations missions and host communities, he pointed out, adding that this would become a larger focus of United Nations policing going forward, in line with the achievement of all the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mr. Zouev was joined by the heads of police components of United Nations missions in Haiti, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Mali, who participated in an interactive discussion with Council members.
Serge Therriault, Police Commissioner of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), said that over the last 22 years, the Caribbean country has benefited from the support of thousands of United Nations police and corrections advisors from the rich network of police-contributing countries. Through the successive missions, United Nations assistance has progressed to a more strategic advisory role on the essentials of sound police management and security sector governance. Police institutions are learning organizations, bound to constantly adapt to a changing environment and new threats.
Securing the country on its own since the closure of the United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH), he continued, the Haitian National Police repeatedly has risen to numerous challenges and proven its operational know-how time. The Director General ad interim has led the police institution through a year of violent street protests, sharp increases in major crimes, a global pandemic, and long-standing labour relations issues, constantly succeeding in reversing the negative trends. With the advice of BINUH, the national police leadership established a facilitation and dialogue commission to address police officers’ grievances and improve labour relations. Some of the recommendations from this commission, which have already been implemented with the support of the Government, including formally recognizing the right to unionize for police officers and improving medical coverage, have also proven to be effective in appeasing internal tensions.
In its advisory role, he said, BINUH continues working with the national police to achieve gender equality and improve capacity to prevent and investigate all forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Twenty years after Security Council resolution 1325 (2020) was adopted, the increased recruitment and training of female police officers has been a key element of capacity-building to professionalize the police. Currently, women represent nearly 11 per cent of the 15,000 Haitian police officers and the United Nations strategic advisers are engaged in additional initiatives to achieve the gender-sensitive recruitment goal of 12 per cent female representation by 2021.
Turning to the numerous episodes of armed gang violence over the last year and the prominence of criminality, with a resurgence of robberies, kidnappings, and homicides, he underlined an urgent need for concrete and coherent action by the Haitian authorities for accountability and an end to impunity. State authorities must strive to curb the gang phenomenon and marshal all efforts through a holistic approach and nationally owned solutions, especially ahead of a crucial electoral period, to protect its citizens from all forms of criminality while promoting democracy, justice and stability.
As a precondition for the success of the ongoing transition, the Government needs to allocate sufficient and sustainable financial, operational and human resources for the police, with the United Nations country team and national and international partners continuing to support police development and ensuring oversight to maintain the trust of the population in its sole public safety institution. “With adequate support, the professionalization of the national police can be a vehicle for stability and play a central role in restoring the rule of law in Haiti,” he emphasized.
Unaisi Vuniwaqa, Police Commissioner of the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), said the Mission was confronted with an unprecedented threat — both to the community it serves and its own personnel — amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It acted swiftly and decisively to protect its staff and continue implementing its protection and peacebuilding mandate, while also managing reputational risks by countering misconceptions among the local population about UNMISS personnel being “contagion vectors”. The robust actions taken to mitigate the spread of the virus included freezing non-essential travel, prohibiting large gatherings, limiting interaction outside of bases and requiring physical distancing, mask wearing and handwashing.
Noting that Mission staff faced particular difficulties in implementing prevention measures to protect civilian camps and camps for internally displaced persons, she said “hands on” policing posed considerable risks. In response, the police contingent reduced its footprint inside those sites but maintained the capacity needed to respond to emergency security situations if required. Notably, at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in June, fighting erupted in a protection of civilians site in Juba. Mission staff responded — equipped with personal protective equipment — and successfully ended the fighting with no casualties. Several officers later tested positive for COVID-19 and were quarantined, stopping the virus from spreading to the broader UNMISS base.
Outlining other activities still being conducted by the police contingent in line with the Mission’s mandate, she cited technical assistance workshops and support to communities of internally displaced persons. Sensitization on COVID-19 awareness is also ongoing, as is the distribution of hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment including face masks. Quick impact projects to renovate and build selected police stations also continue despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, and seven stations were completed and handed over to the national police.
She went on to note that political violence has been markedly reduced since the signing of a ceasefire and peace deal in 2018. UNMISS, in close consultation with the Government and other partners, is working to gradually draw down its presence. That includes re-designating some protection of civilian sites and transitioning them into internally displaced persons camps, for which the Government will assume responsibility. The UMISS police contingent plays a key role in preparing for those transitions and helping the national police to build its community-oriented policing capabilities, while also providing technical and logistical support, on-site training, mentoring, coaching and monitoring of policing activities.
Pascal Champion, Head of the police component of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), said United Nations police officers — despite sometimes being overlooked — have demonstrated their enormous potential on the ground in missions around the world. In the Central African Republic, for example, the Mission’s police officers have conducted more than 40 missions related to the protection of civilians. They are also helping to ensure security conditions for the upcoming elections, assisted in the conviction of perpetrators accused of carrying out attacks against peacekeepers, helped to build the capacity of the national police force — including robust participation of women officers — and successfully stemmed the spread of COVID-19.
Noting that cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers have been completely eradicated in the three years since earlier cases first came to light, he went on to note that MINUSCA police officers work closely with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the European Union’s training mission and many bilateral donors. Citing several strategies that have made the MINUSCA police component effective, he said it benefits from strong support from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and has successfully integrated critical United Nations norms and standards into its work. It also took on board the “price of excellence theory” of policing, increased its productivity and flexibility, and never hesitates to identify and address weaknesses. “We continue to keep a human touch in everything we do,” he said, calling for more attention to the good work being carried out by United Nations police components.
Issoufou Yacouba, Police Commissioner of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), noted that a world marred by increasingly complex conflicts requires consideration of the roles of civilian, military and police components in the strategic objectives of the mission as defined in resolution 2531 (2020). United Nations police are active at all levels of decision-making across every level of the mandate. Therefore, cooperation and partnerships with the host country are essential, from sectoral strategic plans signed with the heads of each security service to periodic meetings with those partners, enabling the mission to provide technical assistance and foster decision-making.
He noted that policing contributes to peaceful societies, including by advocating for inclusion and the greater involvement of women. MINUSMA is implementing community policing and operationalizing security advisory committees as consultation frameworks between representatives of the State, security services and local populations. While noting the significant promising steps in Mali, he said there is much to be done, especially as the pandemic and political crisis have severely impacted the implementation of the mandate. He added that host countries must stress respect for the rule of law, with security forces establishing an environment conducive to redeploying State representatives, restoring State authority and fighting impunity. Those elements contribute to social and economic development, and without them there can be no security, peace and stability, he said.
After the heads of police components of United Nations missions spoke, leaders and Council members expressed their views on the role of police officers in United Nations peacekeeping and special political missions, with some calling for greater support for police components as they face restrictions and undertake expanded tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Others highlighted the need to implement an integrated peacekeeper performance strategy to hold police components accountable for meeting United Nations standards.
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