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 2022.
The award will be presented during the third United Nations Chiefs of Police Summit (UNCOPS), taking place at the United Nations Headquarters from 31 August to 1 September 2022.
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, 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 Mission in the Democratic Republic of 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 UN peace operations and to promote women’s empowerment.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations (UN).
