Peacekeepers in Abyei Win Top United Nations Military, Police Awards
NEW YORK, 27 May (Department of Peace Operations) — The United Nations has announced the 2024 recipients of the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award and the Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.
Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme of Ghana will receive the Military Gender Advocate Award and Chief Superintendent Zainab Gbla of Sierra Leone will receive the Woman Police Officer of the Year Award during a ceremony marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on 29 May.
The awards will be presented at United Nations Headquarters in New York by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Sharon Syme of Ghana has been named the 2024 Military Gender Advocate of the Year in recognition of her exceptional commitment in promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls during her tour of duty with the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
Since her deployment in 2024 as the Mission’s Military Gender Adviser, Ms. Syme’s work has directly impacted local communities, ensuring the voices and needs of women and girls are integrated into security and peacebuilding initiatives.
As part of her efforts, she conducted an intensive health campaign for the women and men of the local communities on the dangers and health implications of gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices like child marriage.
Ms. Syme also helped strengthen the gender awareness and capacity of UNISFA’s military components, spearheading patrols composed of men and women able to address diverse community needs, and engaging with local women’s groups to promote trust and collaboration. Her approach emphasized inclusivity, respect and cultural awareness, setting a benchmark for gender-responsive peacekeeping operations.
“Squadron Leader Syme exemplifies the principles of gender advocacy in peacekeeping,” said Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. “Her dedication has not only improved the effectiveness of UNISFA’s operations, but also ensured that the mission is more reflective of and responsive to the communities it serves.”
“Applying gender perspectives into daily tasks is the responsibility of every peacekeeper,” Ms. Syme said. “Success comes through diversifying military representation at checkpoints, operating bases and on patrols it also comes from having gender-responsive leaders, who listen and respond to the voices of their male and female peacekeepers”.
Zainab Gbla of Sierra Leone has been named the Woman Police Officer of the Year for her innovative community engagement initiatives that helped strengthen relations between host communities and the mission while establishing new crime-reporting channels in Abyei, where there is no functional police service.
In an area that had no schools when she arrived, she initiated an educational programme, providing materials and visual aids for teaching disadvantaged children. She also established a mentorship programme for girls. Projects she also initiated to support crop cultivation and livestock sale at the local markets gave the women sustainable sources of income, allowing them to provide for their families and send their children to school in nearby Abyei town.
Currently serving as UNISFA’s Chief Police Training Officer, Ms. Gbla spent her teenage years displaced within her home country of Sierra Leone and later as a refugee in Guinea — experiences that motivated her to enter the police service and to empower women affected, like her, by conflict.
“Having been inspired by seeing the positive impact of the police first hand, including the rebuilding and restructuring of the Sierra Leone Police following years of conflict, Chief Superintendent Gbla embodies the work of the United Nations to improve lives and shape futures,” said Under-Secretary-General Lacroix.
“This award symbolizes the tireless work of the women in uniform who serve under the UN flag,” said Ms. Gbla upon hearing of her award. “Each of us faces unique challenges in our respective missions, yet our collective goal remains the same: to foster peace and protect the vulnerable.”
About the Awardees
Chief Superintendent Zainab Mbalu Gbla joined the Sierra Leone Police in 2002, where she has since held various roles in operations, training and leadership. She has been serving with UNISFA since April 2023 as Officer-in-Charge of the Community-Based Disarmament Unit and UNPOL Chief Training Officer. This is her third peacekeeping deployment, after serving with the United Nations – African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) in 2010–2013 and 2020–2021.
Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme graduated from the Ghana Military Academy after obtaining her first master's degree in international health at Japan’s Tokyo University. A year later, she joined the Ghana Armed Forces Medical Corps and is the Deputy Chief Dietician at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra, Ghana. Her first peacekeeping deployment, she joined UNISFA in March 2024 as the Mission’s Military Gender Adviser.
About the Awards
The United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year award was established in 2011 to recognize the exceptional contributions of women police officers to UN peace operations and to promote women’s empowerment, in line with UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security. The UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award is presented annually since 2016 to a military peacekeeper — male or female — who has shown outstanding commitment and leadership in promoting the principles of resolution 1325 (2000). The resolution calls on actors to mainstream a gender perspective in all aspects of peacekeeping and peacebuilding and to ensure women’s participation in peace and political processes. The resolution also calls for the protection from, and prevention of, conflict-related sexual violence and for an expansion of the role and contribution of women in UN operations, including of uniformed women peacekeepers.
The awards ceremony will be held at UN Headquarters on 29 May from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and broadcast live on UN Web TV.
More information, photos and digital assets on the awardees are available on a dedicated Trello Board.
For media inquiries and further information, please contact: Douglas Coffman, Department of Global Communications, at email: coffmand@un.org; or Sophie Boudre, Department of Peace Operations, at email: boudre@un.org and Hector Calderon, Department of Peace Operations, at email: hector.calderon@un.org.