Overview
- Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix praised India during a May 29 briefing for its substantial support at this year’s Conference for Women Peacekeepers in New Delhi.
- India is the fourth-largest contributor of uniformed personnel, with over 5,300 military and police deployed to missions in Abyei, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
- The country set a precedent by deploying an all-women Formed Police Unit to Liberia in 2007 and expanded its gender initiative with an all-female platoon in Abyei in January 2023.
- In December 2022, India launched a UN Security Council ‘Group of Friends’ and unveiled a database to record crimes against peacekeepers and track accountability efforts.
- Lacroix confirmed ongoing UN efforts to boost female participation and encourage more senior women officers to seek Force Commander and Deputy Force Commander appointments.