Peacekeeper from Burkina Faso Serving in Mali to Receive 2022 United Nations Woman Police Officer Award, 31 August
NEW YORK, 29 August (Department of Peace Operations) — The United Nations has announced that Chief Warrant Officer Alizeta Kabore Kinda of Burkina Faso will receive the 2022 United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year Award on 31 August.
The award will be presented during the third United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit, taking place at the United Nations Headquarters on 31 August and 1 September.
Chief Warrant Officer Kinda serves as a gender focal point with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), where she supports the Malian Security Forces in the Menaka region to promote and improve understanding of gender, child protection, human rights and civil protection issues. Following her efforts, more victims of sexual and gender‑based violence are coming forward to report their cases to local authorities and to receive medical care — now three or more per month from none before her arrival. Her efforts have also focused on expanding the number of girls in schools and reducing early marriages.
“Chief Warrant Officer Kinda’s work is a shining example of how the participation of women police in peace operations directly impacts the sustainability of peace by helping to bring different perspectives to the table and making our work more inclusive,” said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. “Through her actions, she embodies a more representative, efficient police service that is better equipped to serve and protect the public.”
Upon receiving the news of her award, Ms. Kinda expressed “hope that it will inspire women and girls around the world to pursue policing careers, despite the gender stereotypes often associated with the profession: that men are better suited to enforce the laws and protect the population”.
“Chief Warrant Officer Kinda has demonstrated creativity and commitment in addressing the specific security needs of the communities she serves,” said United Nations Police Adviser Luis Carrilho. “She and her team are helping to increase trust between Malian local authorities and communities, which makes the work of the United Nations Police more effective and the people safer.”
Chief Warrant Officer Kinda’s career has focused on protecting and promoting women’s and children’s rights, including between 2013 to 2015, when she was a gender focal point in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). In her home country of Burkina Faso, she performed these duties within the Ministry of Security and the Regional Brigade for the Protection of Women and Children, a unit of the national police, as an investigator on sexual violence and exploitation.
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 women’s empowerment.
Note to Editors
The award will be presented during the third United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit, which bring together ministers, chiefs of police, and senior representatives of regional and professional policing organizations to engage on strengthening international peace, security, and development through the unifying power and role of national and United Nations policing.
About 10,000 United Nations Police are authorized to serve in 16 United Nations peace operations, where they work to enhance international peace and security by supporting host countries in conflict, post-conflict and other crisis situations. Women comprise over 19 per cent of currently serving United Nations Police officers.
Women’s participation in United Nations Police has doubled since 2015. As of today, United Nations Police has already achieved the 2025 targets set out in the Department’s Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy for all categories of personnel. Women police officers make up 31.5 per cent of individually deployed police officers and 14.6 per cent of members of Formed Police Units. Women also lead half of the United Nations Police components in the field, including United Nations peace operations in Abyei, Cyprus, Kosovo, Mali, South Sudan and Sudan.
The award ceremony will be held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at United Nations Headquarters from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 31 August, and broadcast live on UN webcast at https://media.un.org/en/asset/k10/k10y3sil81.
Download digital assets on the United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year Award at https://trello.com/b/D1fEspuu/uncops-2022.
For more information, please contact Douglas Coffman, Peace and Security Section, Department of Global Communications, at email: coffmand@un.org, tel.: +1 917 361 9923; or Sophie Boudre, Strategic Communications Section, Department of Peace Operations, at email: boudre@un.org, tel.: +1 917 691 5359.