Zambian Peacekeeper to Receive 2020 United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year Award, 3 November
New York, Friday, 30 October 2020 – The United Nations Department of Peace Operations announced that Chief Inspector Doreen Malambo of Zambia, currently serving in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) will be named the 2020 United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year.
Chief Inspector Malambo currently serves as a Gender Adviser in Juba, South Sudan. Working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), she helped establish the “Stand Up for Rights of Women and Girls” initiative that has helped to reduce and prevent sexual and gender‑based crime in South Sudan. As part of this project, Chief Inspector Malambo created a network of groups led by male local police officers to engage other men in the community to disseminate information and promote the protection and advancement of the rights of women and girls.
Chief Inspector Malambo also contributed to UNMISS efforts to disseminate information on COVID‑19 prevention to vulnerable communities, including those with disabilities.
The United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year award was established in 2011 to recognize the exceptional contributions of women police officers to United Nations peace operations and to promote the empowerment of women.
The award carries special significance this year when we mark the twentieth anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security and 60 years since the first deployment of United Nations police, to the United Nations Operation in the Congo.
“Greater women’s participation in peacekeeping sends a strong message to our host populations. This message is amplified when women police officers like Chief Inspector Malambo take the lead to empower and protect others, even more so in a pandemic context,” said Under‑Secretary‑General for Peace Operations Jean‑Pierre Lacroix, who will present her with the award at a virtual ceremony on 3 November 2020 “Through both her ideas and actions Doreen Malambo exemplifies the best of United Nations policing.”
“Like many peacekeepers during this challenging time, Chief Inspector Malambo continues to go above and beyond the call of duty to serve our communities,” said United Nations Police Adviser Luís Carrilho. “Gender‑responsive policing is a responsibility shared by all, and her efforts within the Mission and in the community to engage more men have led to greater awareness of the role each of us can play,” Mr. Carrilho added.
“Knowing that I am making a difference by working to empower women and promote their active inclusion and participation in society motivates me. Women’s empowerment is the key to increasing the visibility of interests, concerns, needs and contributions of women as we advance the women, peace and security agenda,” said Chief Inspector Doreen Malambo.
Chief Inspector Malambo’s previous United Nations experience includes a deployment with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) from 2008 to 2009, where she assisted the Liberia National Police to prevent and investigate sexual and gender‑based violence and domestic violence. Her national experience spans 24 years with the Zambia Police Service.
The award will be presented during the fifteenth United Nations Police Week that will take place virtually from 2 to 6 November. At this annual event, heads of United Nations police components and police experts from peacekeeping operations, special political missions and regional offices and United Nations senior leadership discuss performance, conduct and discipline, protection of civilians, conflict prevention, sustaining peace and other topics and priorities affecting United Nations policing.
About 11,000 United Nations police, 1,300 of whom are women, are deployed in 16 United Nations peace operations today to enhance international peace and security by supporting host countries in conflict, post‑conflict and other crisis situations.
The United Nations goal is to deploy 30 per cent women among individual police officers and 20 per cent among formed police units by 2028.
The award ceremony will be held virtually on 3 November at 12:00 P.M. EST and broadcast live on United Nations webcast: http://webtv.un.org/.
Media contacts: Douglas Coffman, Peace and Security Section, United Nations Department of Global Communications, at email: coffmand@un.org, mobile: +1 917 361 9923; or Sophie Boudre, Strategic Communications Section, United Nations Department of Peace Operations, at email: boudre@un.org, mobile: +1 917 691 5359.