11th WOMEN POLICE CONVENTION

• Nyakubahwa Minister of gender and family promotion, Professor Jeannette Bayisenge
• Nyakubahwa Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dan Munyuza
• Deputy IGPs 
• Police Officers from all Police Units.
• Distinguished participants,
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
• All protocols observed,

Mwaramutse neza!

• A couple of weeks ago, Rwanda hosted an Advanced Training on Mediation and Negotiation for Women Mediators from the Great Lakes Region. The training was co-organized by the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region and the African Union Fem-Wise-Africa Network, and I was privileged to present the opening and closing remarks. The focus of the training was to advance the implementation of Resolution 1325 and SDGs 5 and 16, specifically, the role of women in peace building and the contribution of ombudsperson institutions and mediators in fostering women inclusion. The training enhanced the skills of women in mediation and peace building to effectively contribute to the ongoing stabilization efforts of the Great Lakes region in partnership with the Governments of the Great Lakes Regions, ICGLR, the Office of the Special Envoy and the African Union.

• And today, I am honoured to present my remarks to the 11th Women Police Convention under the theme “Policewomen at the Core of Professional Policing”. Your meeting will also reflect on Resolution 1325 and SDGs 5 and 16.

• First and foremost, on behalf of UN in Rwanda, I would like to commend the Government of Rwanda’s effort to mainstream gender in policies, programmes and practices as gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. The results are highly commended at global level and a more authorized voice will certainly elaborate on this. Let me highlight that women represented 0.5% of the 3,500 police forces in 2000, they represent now more than 22%, a huge step towards gender equality in police.

• “Rwanda ranks one of the leading female contributors to the UN. Rwanda deployed an all-female contingent in 2010.” Women represented 0.5% of the 3500 police forces at the creation of the RNP in 2000; and now the percentage has increased to 23%. RNP is walking the talk of gender equality.

• Professional and Contemporary Policing emphasisethe diversity of the policing role and draws upon a variety of contexts in which policing plays a critical role. Contemporary policing is complex because of the range of crimes, including cybersecurity, hate speech, as well as the variety of criminals and the diversity of the means used to commit the crimes and the absence of boundaries and the important role of the communities. This includes more and more the necessity for law enforcers to adjust, anticipate and be ahead of the curb in this endless course between criminals and law enforcers.

• This complexity brings both challenges and opportunities for policewomen. Brain being more used than force, many young people including young women are attracted in the scientific area of policing and the required interaction with communities means abilities in emotional and social intelligence and interaction with a variety of actors. Sensitization, awareness raising and persuasion are becoming important tools. In some of those areas, studies show that women show a high level of capabilities. Of course, we need more girls and women in STEM.

• As it was said in 2019: Women are indispensable today in policing. With their perseverance and unique abilities, they are becoming a fundamental part of contemporary policing. Women are found to respond more effectively to incidents of violence against women and child abuse. The integration of women into law enforcement positions can be considered a large social change.

• In such context, the women police convention organized every year is a clear demonstration of the translation of gender equality principles into practice and provides a good platform for women in policing to reflect on their roles and responsibilities but also challenges and strategies towards a peaceful country free from any form of discrimination and abuse in line with the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Goals especially goal 16 “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.”

• The role of women police in safety, security and peace building in Rwanda and outside the country through different peace keeping missions is commendable. Their role in GBV prevention and violence in country and outside the country has been recognized internationally.

• In many countries including Rwanda, women are disproportionately victims of gender-based violence including domestic and sexual violence, and the COVID-19 crisis has further exposed violence against women and girls as a global emergency requiring urgent action. Therefore, police in general and women police in particular must be in a position to ensure their effective response to the rising numbers of female victims and their needs; help in bringing the offenders to justice and prevent such surge.

• Women police convention is also a response to the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which calls all actors to increase the participation of women in conflict resolution, peacekeeping and incorporate gender perspectives in all UN peace and security efforts but also calls for special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, in situations of armed conflict.  

• The UN is cognizant of the Government effort is this endeavor including the country’s response to the UN Secretary General’s “UNiTE campaign to end Violence Against Women and Girls” (VAWG) and the Africa UNiTE campaign which culminated to Kigali International Conference Declaration (KICD) whose Secretariat is housed by Rwanda National Police since 2010. All governments are called to make commitments and undertake policy actions around four key action areas: FUND, PREVENT, RESPOND, COLLECT.

• During August and September 2021, the UNiTE Campaign focused its advocacy on the fourth action area of the “Political Engagement Strategy”, COLLECT:
  • Collect data for improvement of GBV services and programs (always ensuring survivor-centered and ethical safety standards).

• The 2030 sustainable Goals especially the development goal 5 - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls - calls for equal rights and opportunity between men and women, boys and girls, to live a life free of violence and discrimination and requires urgent action to eliminate the many root causes of discrimination that still curtail women’s rights in private and public spheres. As such the composition and culture of a nation’s police force play an essential role in its ability to achieve this goal. Promoting a diverse workforce, particularly in terms of female representation in all ranks within the policing command structure, is one of the key determinants for setting a gender responsive police force culture and alleviating the culture bias of seeing police forces as male-dominant hierarchical institutions.

• The women police forces play a critical role in ensuring the security of the country and beyond but also serve as a role model for many women and girls out there who aspire to be recruited among the security organs.  If you do it and do it well, there are other female citizens who can also do it if given the opportunity and supported to the security trajectory.

• “A top priority of United Nations police is to increase the number of female police officers in peacekeeping operations and encourage the recruitment of women in domestic police services.

• The representation of female police officers is critical to increase the operational effectiveness and efficiency of UN police across the full spectrum of United Nations policing activities. In addition, to mainstreaming gender-sensitive policing, UN Police launched a Global Effort, with Member States, to increase the representation of female police peacekeepers.

• Eight Security Council resolutions on "Women, Peace and Security" 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009), 1889 (2009), 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013), 2122 (2013) and 2242 (2015), 2467 (2019), and 2493 (2019) highlight the differential impact of conflict on women, men, boys and girls and therefore the necessity to mainstream gender perspectives into peacekeeping. Furthermore, Security Council resolution 2185 (2014) on policing in peacekeeping emphasized the promotion of gender equality as part of a comprehensive approach to conflict prevention and sustainable peace.

• “The mission of UN Police is to enhance international peace and security by supporting Member-States in conflict, post-conflict and other crisis situations. Its goal is to realize effective, efficient, representative, responsive and accountable police services that serve and protect the population. To that end, United Nations Police build and support or, where mandated, act as a substitute or partial substitute for host-State police capacity to prevent and detect crime, protect life and property and maintain public order and safety, in adherence to the rule of law and international human rights law (S/2018/1183).”

• In order to support all the efforts in mainstreaming gender in contemporary policing, in particular in peace keeping forces, UN has developed a variety of training materials and courses:

• • The United Nations Police Gender Toolkit is a training package of best practices for mainstreaming gender into police activities in peacekeeping operations
  • One initiative, led by the United Nations Police Division, is the all-female selection assistance and assessment team (SAAT) training
  • Global Efforts Initiative
  • This year, UN Women, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Association of Women Police published the 529-page The Handbook on Gender-responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence; it will be used in 22 countries. The handbook gives practical, in-depth guidance on how to respond during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic; prevent violence against women and girls; and do investigations that meet the needs and concerns of survivors and focus more on what the perpetrators did.

Honorable IGP, Dear participants,

• Before concluding let me highlight the excellent partnership between UN in general and UNDP and UNWOMEN in particular and the RNP.

• In conclusion, I wish to quote the UN Secretary-General António Guterres “Violence against women and girls is a horrible and widespread affront to their human rights, and a blight on all our societies.”  and to renew the commitment of my office and the UNCT to continued partnership with the Rwanda National Police in GBV Prevention and response and community policing.
• I think that it is important to:
  • Carry out an in-depth research on the barriers preventing women and girls to enter the police force and engage a campaign on opportunities for women;
  • Discuss experiences of policewomen in policies including sometimes insufficient trust, consideration and harassment both at family level, society level and institutional level;
  • Promote more female at senior management levels.

• I wish you an enriching deliberation on contemporary policing issues because some of the issues raised in my remarks will be discusses.

TURI KUMWE! WE ARE TOGETHER!