F. No Protection Without Participation – The Importance of Engagement with
Women by Women Peacekeepers – United Nations Experience in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) (Lesson #6212)
Observation.
The United Nations (UN) Headquarters (HQ) staff learnt that Congolese women’s voices need
to be heard in order to have better situational awareness. It was apparent that the experiences
of women in the village were different than the men’s and that they had more relevant
information about the illegally armed groups than the men;
Military Commanders often don’t consider the importance of having women military personnel
engage with local women as part of understanding the human terrain;
A woman peacekeeper with linguistic skills can be more useful than a male Swahili speaking (in
this case) Community Liaison Of ficer;
The mere presence of senior UN military leadership at a meeting with women can lift the status
of women in the eyes of their community; (the UN Force Commander and his insistence on
speaking to the Congolese women was a lesson to the Congolese Territorial Administrator who
was at first dismissive of including the women of the community in engagement with the UN);
The Congolese women felt more empowered than before as the UN had made an effort to
hear their side of the story;
The UN’s reputation may have slightly improved for showing both that it wanted to hear from
both women as well as men and that it took time and resources to visit an isolated location;
There is a possibility that the information from the woman which was fed into the military
component’s planning cycle led to a reduction in attacks in the Eringetti region – but this is
difficult to assess.
Discussion.
Eringetti, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – November 2014
The Force Head Quarters (FHQ) of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) had received several reports that villagers (mainly women) were
being attacked in the area north of Beni on the perimeter with Virunga National Park. The Military
Gender Adviser approached the Force Commander and asked if it would be possible to take some
Swahili speaking women soldiers from the Tanzanian Battalion (Bn). She hoped they could meet and
talk with the women in the villages affected by the attacks.
Initially the FHQ was reluctant to release the assets needed – a helicopter to get to the city of Beni and
then to go north the next day to the village of Eringetti. The Force Commander did at last agree and
stated that he would visit the area too.
When the UN Military Gender Adviser asked the Tanzanian Bn Commander if she could take a couple
of his women soldiers to meet with the Congolese women, the Commander was puzzled. He offered
up 16 of his Special Forces troops (all men) and struggled to understand why the FHQ staff only
wanted women. Eventually the Bn Commander nominated a military police woman to accompany the
Military Gender Adviser. It should be noted that at that time there were no women peacekeepers in
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