Francophone Support for Women in Military Peacekeeping
June 28, 2022
Francophone Support for Women in Military Peacekeeping
Following the precedent set by the UN's Female Military Officer Course (in operation since 2015), France and the International Organisation of Francophone Countries (OIF) has piloted a new French language version of the course with great success. Since it began in 2021, it is reported that 773 female officers have benefitted from the course, of whom 75% have already been deployed on or assigned to UN Peacekeeping missions. Two thirds of present peacekeeping operations are active in francophone countries.
This summer, 2022, the OIF in collaboration with France and the UN will run the first ever French language training course for Military Gender Advisors - experts who accompany peacekeeping operations to ensure that gender-specific issues are addressed and gender-sensitive support is offered throughout the course of the mission. This first course is set to take place in Morocco.
In addition, the French military has set out a number of initiatives to increase their female recruitment, especially among the officer ranks.
Original Press Release from France's Permanent Mission to the UN available here.