Media Home
UN Web TV
UN PhotoINDIA / WOMEN IN PEACEKEEPING
STORY: INDIA / WOMEN IN PEACEKEEPING
TRT: 03:13
SOURCE: UN NEWS HINDI
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 - 26 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
24 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DELHI, INDIA
1. Wide shot, exterior, Conference building
2. Wide shot, Women in Peacekeeping banner
25 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
3. Various shots, Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix arrival
26 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations:
“That conference was, for me, an opportunity both to discuss the current challenges to peacekeeping, the achievements of peacekeepers, also their challenges, and how we can work together to adapt peacekeeping to the new realities.”
25 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
5. Various shots, USG Lacroix at watching a demonstration of peacekeeping equipment
26 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations:
“There was another dimension to that conference, which is that the invited participants are women officers. And therefore, the conference was also very much an opportunity to highlight the importance of women in peacekeeping and having more women in peacekeeping, which is really a way of improving the effectiveness of peacekeeping.”
24 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DELHI, INDIA
7. Various shots, women peacekeepers at the conference
26 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations:
“We are doing better when it comes to the number of women serving in peacekeeping, and the proportion of women has been constantly improving. Now, there are a couple of issues on which we need to do more work. One of them is that we would want to have more senior female officers for senior positions, such as Force Commander and Deputy Force Commander. Not many armed forces have women at this kind of level, it’s a very gradual process, but India is doing a lot to achieve that and also provides us with more female officers.”
24 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DELHI, INDIA
9. Various shots, women peacekeepers at the conference
26 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations:
“We have to look at how we make the peacekeeping environment welcoming for both women and men. This includes practical issues such as facilities, there is a lot of effort being made to improve the quality of our camps and their suitability for women as well as for men.”
25 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
11. Wide shot, peacekeeper Gorette Mwenzangu from Rwanda receiving a certificate
24 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DELHI, INDIA
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Gorette Mwenzangu, Peacekeeper Rwanda:
“Women are so important in making peace and keeping peace and building peace. So, women as peacekeepers, they are very important to the host communities because mostly women and children are affected by the conflict as well as the war. So, in most cases, our role as women is very important to giving a soft touch of the issues that mostly regarding women, regarding children, regarding the vulnerable.”
25 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW DEHLI, INDIA
13. Wide shot, women peacekeepers sitting
Upon his return from the first-ever Conference for Women Peacekeepers in New Delhi, India, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix today (26 Feb) said having more women in peacekeeping, “is really a way of improving the effectiveness of peacekeeping.”
The landmark conference, themed “Women in Peacekeeping: A Global South Perspective was held in India’s capital from February 24–25, 2025, bringing together women peacekeepers from 35 Troop-Contributing Countries (TCCs). Organized by the Government of India and the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK), it highlighted the need for greater female participation and leadership in peace missions worldwide.
Lacroix said the conference was “an opportunity both to discuss the current challenges to peacekeeping, the achievements of peacekeepers, also their challenges, and how we can work together to adapt peacekeeping to the new realities.”
Gender parity in peacekeeping—especially among leaders and uniformed personnel—has long been a priority for the United Nations. The organization, which relies on Member States for military and police contingents, has launched several initiatives over the years, urging and incentivizing troop- and police-contributing countries to deploy more women peacekeepers.
Lacroix said, “we are doing better when it comes to the number of women serving in peacekeeping, and the proportion of women has been constantly improving. Now, there are a couple of issues on which we need to do more work. One of them is that we would want to have more senior female officers for senior positions, such as Force Commander and Deputy Force Commander.”
He said, “not many armed forces have women at this kind of level, it’s a very gradual process, but India is doing a lot to achieve that and also provides us with more female officers.”
Despite various initiatives, fewer than 10 percent of the UN’s approximately 70,000 uniformed peacekeepers (military, police, and observers) are women. The UN aims to reach 15 percent women in military contingents and 25 percent women in police contingents by 2028 (under the Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy).
Lacroix said, “we have to look at how we make the peacekeeping environment welcoming for both women and men. This includes practical issues such as facilities, there is a lot of effort being made to improve the quality of our camps and their suitability for women as well as for men.”
In 2000, Security Council Resolution 1325 kickstarted the initiative to promote the critical role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, urging increased female participation in all UN peace and security efforts. Subsequent Women in Peace and Security (WPS) Resolutions (1820, 1888, 1889, 2122, 2242) emphasized women’s leadership in peace processes, post-conflict reconstruction, and preventing sexual violence.
Training programs, including all-women or gender-integrated courses, have been initiated to bolster women’s preparedness and leadership skills for deployment.
Rwandan peacekeeper Gorette Mwenzangu, who served in Darfur, said, “women are so important in making peace and keeping peace and building peace. So, women as peacekeepers, they are very important to the host communities because mostly women and children are affected by the conflict as well as the war. So, in most cases, our role as women is very important to giving a soft touch of the issues that mostly regarding women, regarding children, regarding the vulnerable.”
Countries of the Global South are the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping, with India at the forefront. As the world’s top troop-contributing nation, India has a distinguished history of deploying women in both military and police roles.
Download
There is no media available to download.
