Indian all-women UN peace force arrives in Liberia

The commander of an all-women Indian UN police unit has arrived in Liberia to head the world body’s first ever such specialized force sent on a peacekeeping operation. The Commandeer of the Indian UN Formed Police Unit (FPU), Seema Dhundiya, along with logistics and engineering specialists landed in the Liberian capital Monrovia on Sunday. Over the past few years, the UN has recorded success with FPUs. The teams are to bridge the gap between regular and lightly armed police and fully armed blue-helmets. Armed less than the regular security unit, an FPU is tasked with providing general support to UN policing in Liberia where they protect UN officials and civilian police while they perform their duties. The women’s FPU represents further effort by the UN to attract women police officers into peacekeeping operations worldwide. As of 2006-end, while there were 8,482 staff, only 454 were women officers. Image Read