There, alongside civilian gender items, Ms. Syme met a bunch of area people members – each women and men. Partway by means of, she realised one thing was completely different.
“The ladies weren’t speaking,” she informed UN Information. “They have been very quiet.”
Then she remembered that native cultural norms dictated girls don’t communicate in public.
“We’re girls such as you. We would like to have the ability to assist, however we don’t know the way we can assist you,” she informed them in a separate assembly. “Are you able to please inform us what your drawback is so we will see how we can assist?”
It’s for this kind of work based in group belief constructing and a relentless perception within the significance of gender views and empowerment in peacekeeping, that the UN will honour two distinctive girls peacekeepers on Thursday as a part of Worldwide Peacekeepers’ Day.
Ms. Syme is that this yr’s winner of the UN Army Gender Advocate of 2024 Award.
“[Ms. Syme’s] dedication has not solely improved the effectiveness of UNISFA’s operations but in addition ensured that the mission is extra reflective of and conscious of the communities it serves,” mentioned Beneath-Secretary-Basic for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
The opposite honouree is Chief Superintendent Zainab Mbalu Gbla of Sierra Leone who has been named Lady Police Officer of the yr for her work with UNISFA.
“Chief Superintendent Gbla embodies the work of the United Nations to enhance lives and form futures,” mentioned Mr. Lacroix.
Gender and peacekeeping
The UN Lady Police Officer of the Yr Award was established in 2011 and the UN Army Gender Advocate of the Yr Award was first introduced 5 years later.
Each awards acknowledge peacekeepers whose work has considerably superior the mixing of gender views and empowerment into peacekeeping.
In 2000, the Safety Councilhanded a decision which affirmed the important function girls play in peacebuilding, peacekeeping and humanitarian responses. Since then, the United Nations has labored to completely combine gender views into peacekeeping.
In keeping with Ms. Syme, making use of gender views must be a “each day job” for all peacekeepers.
“We have to perceive the gender dynamics inside our space of operation, in any other case, we’d not be capable to have the correct intervention, we’d not be capable to perform the correct actions,” she mentioned.
Intergenerational legacy
Ms. Gbla skilled the impression of peacekeeping herself as a civilian in Sierra Leone within the wake of a struggle that ravaged her nation.
“I noticed folks coming from completely different components of the world simply to carry peace to my nation… That is why I informed myself that at some point I would like to be a peacekeeper – to assist different folks, to return the favour,” Ms. Gbla informed UN Information.
As a UNISFA gender officer, not solely did she create a faculty programme and feminine mentorship community the place none had existed earlier than, she additionally labored diligently to make sure that studying was enjoyable, incorporating performing arts and visible aids.
“[The women of Abyei] are able to work, they’re able to do issues for themselves if peace permits them. The kids are able to go to high school, if peace permits them,” she mentioned.
A well being marketing campaign in Abyei
Ms. Syme’s assembly with the ladies of Sector North was the start of an enormously profitable well being marketing campaign within the area which mentioned dangerous practices equivalent to youngster marriage and feminine genital mutilation, the 2 points which the group girls had recognized.
The marketing campaign engaged each women and men, and Ms. Syme mentioned that she was deeply impressed and moved by the response of the male leaders who, by means of the marketing campaign, realized the hurt that practices of kid marriage and feminine genital mutilation had prompted.
“[The leaders] promised that they will revise these cultural practices in order that going ahead, they won’t do it once more,” Ms. Syme mentioned.
This marketing campaign occurred in June 2024 and has pushed Ms. Syme’s work since then, work which incorporates coaching over 1,500 UNISFA officers in gender-responsive peacekeeping.
“It has motivated me,” Ms. Syme mentioned. “It has motivated me so much.”
The way forward for peacekeeping by means of gender
Each Ms. Syme and Ms. Gbla will obtain their awards on Worldwide Peacekeeping Day. This yr, Member States and UN officers can be requested to contemplate the way forward for peacekeeping.
For each Ms. Syme and Ms. Gbla, the way forward for peacekeeping and safety can’t be disentangled from gender views and empowerment.
“When you don’t know the gender dynamics of the world, if you happen to don’t know who’s in cost, if you do not know what will profit who…it’s possible you’ll assume you’re offering safety, however you aren’t actually offering safety,” Ms. Syme mentioned.
Ms. Gbla, in discussing her award, paid homage to all the ladies who put on a UN uniform, underlining their tireless work within the pursuit of peace.
“Every of us [women] faces distinctive challenges in our respective missions, but our collective aim stays the identical – to foster peace and defend the susceptible.”
