“Men would say, ‘No, no, you’re here to be a secretary’. Immediately I said, ‘I quit’. There were only 10 of us and we received military training just like the men. We came back and the General said, ‘Fine, we’re going to send you off to the secretariat’. I said, ‘No, I’ve received the same training as the men, send me where the men are sent’. We wanted access to the same positions. Over time, I observed changes in mindset in defense, security, and justice sectors. We asked for more recruitment of women. We now have 14 women who are officers; at one point we only had 3 and it took 34 years".
- Commander Morou Hadiza, Chief of the Central Unit for the Protection of Women and Minors in the National Gendarmerie of Niger
New York, 13 March 2023
On Monday 13 March, UNODC New York co-organized an event with UN Women, the African Unions and the Permanent Missions of Mauritania and Niger to celebrate and advance the promotion of women taking on careers in security and justice in the Sahel region, on the margins of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
The issue of women in security is a high priority in the region and worldwide; the event was addressed by four female government ministers from the region: H.E. Ms. Allahouri Aminata Zourkaleini, Minister for Women Promotion and Children Protection in Niger; H.E. Ms. Savia Mint N’Tahah, Minister of Social Action, Childhood and Family in Mauritania; H.E. Ms. Nandy Somé Diallo, Minister of Solidarity, Humanitarian Action, National Reconciliation, Gender and Family in Burkina Faso; and H.E. Ms. Amina Priscille Longoh, Minister of Gender and National Solidarity in Chad. They were joined by African Union Ambassador to the UN H.E. Ms. Fatima Kyari Mohammed in praising progress on gender equality in justice. An exchange of good practices and ambitions included policy and legislative provisions ranging from inclusion in community-level warning systems and national targets for female recruitment to plans for a sub-regional mechanism to support women.
The power of stereotypes and the need to challenge them was underscored by the positive reactions to UNODC's awareness raising campaign, as attendees enjoyed viewing the 'Pourquoi pas moi' video produced by UNODC in 2021 spotlighting women in justice. Produced as part of UNODC Sahel’s communication campaign to normalize women taking on jobs in security and justice and challenge stereotypes, the video shows women overcoming prejudice and doubts from friends and family to become judges, police officers, and gendarmes.
For effective policies, it is vital to learn from those women who have already forged careers in security and justice. The winners of the G5 Sahel Gender Awards shared not only their personal experiences of sexism or the challenges of working in the field, but the variety of innovative ways they advocated for change so that more women could follow in their footsteps. Commissioner Aminata Traore, President of the Association of Female Police Officers in Burkina Faso, detailed the scale of the challenge with women comprising just 8% of police and 4% of forest rangers and gendarmes in 2018. She then outlined practical measures such as a quota for female recruitment and maternity leave and added that women flourishing in these roles would challenge stereotypes and bans on women serving in certain roles such as counter terrorism.
Commissioner Zakaria Heble, General Secretary of the Police Academy in Burkina Faso, explained his academy’s efforts to end the exclusion of pregnant candidates, to adapt housing for female trainees’ needs, and to establish a daycare so mothers can participate. He also outlined new training for recruits including in the protection of women and children, to raise awareness among all police trainees of gender issues. Commander Morou Hadiza, quoted above outlining the determination she needed to forge her career, underscored the need for female officers where female survivors of abuse or rape would struggle to disclose to a male officer. She also shared her department’s plan to attract degree-holding female recruits and to have women in all roles in the field.
For successful local efforts to realize their full potential, they need to be celebrated, supported and amplified, sharing good practice with other practitioners to adapt and implement similar measures. They also need to be complemented by global-level measures to promote gender inclusion in security, including in the UN's own work. The UN's Elsie Initiative providing funds to promote female participation in peace and security fields and co-operation between the African Union and UN was celebrated by Ms. Paivi Kannisto, Chief of Peace and Security Division at UN Women. She was joined by UNODC Sahel Programme Coordinator Ms. Cristina Iampieri in praising the awardees and expressing the UN’s commitment to support these joint initiatives, so that women can belong and thrive working in these fields.
Website of the UNODC office for West and Central Africa, which includes the Sahel region.
UNODC Sahel’s #PorquoiPasMoi or #WhyNotMe campaign.
An interview with UNODC’s Ms. Cristina Iampieri on gender equality efforts within the G5 Sahel programme.
