Jakarta (ANTARA) - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi highlighted Indonesian women's increased participation in various United Nations peace missions during an online seminar on Thursday (July 8, 2021).
"The fact that a total of 183 (Indonesian) female soldiers are joining various UN peace missions shows Indonesian commitment to increase their number and support the creation of a conducive environment for female soldiers in the UN mission," she said in the written statement of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
Breaking barriers for women in peacekeeping is indispensable to ensuring the full participation of women in peace missions, the minister said at the seminar on Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Champions: Practical Recommendations for Breaking Barriers for Women in Peacekeeping.
"This recommendation (I) conveyed today can hopefully become an input for the UN to formulate policies which will serve as a catalyst to promote women's role in UN missions," she added.
She made three recommendations for promoting Indonesian women's role in UN peace missions.
The first recommendation concerns the importance of designing infrastructure sensitive to gender in peace missions, Marsudi said. Ensuring a secure environment for female UN peacekeepers is the top priority of Indonesia as one of the biggest contributors of soldiers to the UN mission, she added.
"The second thing which is of equal importance is identifying barriers at the national level," she pointed out.
The identification of barriers must be adjusted to the local culture and situation of each country to achieve maximum results, she said.
Lastly, she stressed Indonesia's support for female peacekeeper networking. "This networking will give additional support to increase the number of female soldiers in UN missions," she explained.
She said full, effective, and meaningful participation of women in UN missions is a common responsibility.
"Indonesia will always commit to be part of this," she said.
The A4P WPS meeting was part of a series of online expert-level seminars jointly organized by Indonesia, Ireland, Germany, Bangladesh, South Africa, Kenya, and Namibia.
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