1. Creating a pipeline of women in peacekeeping:
A Case Study of the UN Women-UAE Women, Peace and Security
Training Programme
Monday, 9 March 2020, 12:45pm – 2:45pm*
Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations
305 East 47th Street, 2nd Floor
* A light lunch will be served from 12:45pm. The event will begin promptly at 1:15pm.
The Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations, the UAE General Women s
Union, the UN Women Liaison Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Georgetown Institute for
Women, Peace and Security would like to invite you to a panel discussion addressing the importance of
creating andenhancing the pipeline of women in peacekeeping. This event will highlight the UN Women-
UAE Women Peace and Securit Training Programme as a case stud which provides military training
and peacekeeping training to women across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The discussion will
provide an overview of the critical importance of women s participation in peacekeeping missions in
military and police roles; identify strategies and recommendations to increase the number of women in
uniformed roles in peacekeeping; and highlight ongoing efforts across agencies to build a pipeline of
women peacekeepers, and to support their deployment to peace operations.
Distinguished speakers will include
H.E. Lana Nusseibeh, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations
Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and
Security
Dr. Mouza Al Shehhi, Director, UN Women Liaison Office for the Gulf Cooperation Council
Dr. Robert Nagel, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security
Kindly RSVP to Ms. Hannah Beswick at hannah.beswick@unwomen.org by 4 March 2020.
RSVP required. Seating is limited.
2. Context
Women are deployed in all areas of peacekeeping in military, police, and civilian roles and have a
positive impact on peacekeeping environments, including in supporting the role of women in building
peace and protecting women s rights Women peacekeepers act as role models, inspiring women and
girls in often male-dominatedsocieties to push for their own rights and to participate inpeace processes.
Yet, the percentage of women serving in uniformed military and police roles hovers around 6 percent.
The presence of women peacekeepers is critical to the operational effectiveness of missions:
Helps reduce conflict and confrontation
Provides a greater sense of security to women and children
Improves access and support for local women
Makes our peacekeepers more approachable to women, including when interviewing
survivors of gender-based violence
Broadens the skillset available within a peacekeeping mission
Addresses the specific needs of female ex-combatants during the process of demobilization and
reintegration into civilian life
Provides opportunities for mentoring female cadets at police and military academies
This is why UN Women and the UAE are working together to increase the role of women in the military
andpeacekeeping through the Women, Peace andSecurity Training Programme, in line with UN Security
Council resolution 1325 (2000) and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. This
programme is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, President of the General
Women s Union Chairwoman of the Famil Development Foundation and President of the Supreme
Council for Motherhood and Childhood. It is run in partnership with UN Women, the UAE Ministry of
Defense and the General Women s Union
The programme has three primary objectives:
(1) To increase women s representation in the militar and peacekeeping and strengthen the
operational effectiveness of peacekeeping
(2) To provide training and capacity building to women in the security sector
(3) To inspire trainees to join their national security forces and create a pipeline of women
peacekeepers
The course is composed of a three-month basic military training and a two-week peacekeeping training.
All training activities take place in Abu Dhabi at the Khawla bint Al Azwar Military Academy for Women.
This joint programme was launched in January 2019, bringing together 134 civilian and military women
from the Arab world to undergo a basic military training and a peacekeeping training. The women came
from seven countries with both civilian and military backgrounds: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia,
Sudan, UAE, and Yemen. This first cohort of trainees completed their training in May 2019.
The second round of training was launched in January 2020, bringing together 223 women across the
Middle East, Africa and Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Jordan, Mauritania,
Pakistan, Senegal, Yemen, and the UAE. Sixty-six percent of these trainees come from their national
police and military sectors; the remaining thirty-four percent are civilians upon entering the training
programme.
