The 2022 recipient of the United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award is Captain Cecilia Erzuah, a Ghanaian peacekeeper with the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA).
On Thursday, May 25, 2023, during a ceremony honouring the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, Secretary-General António Guterres will present the coveted medal to the 32-year-old Captain, who has been stationed in Abyei as the Commander of the Ghana Engagement Platoon since March 2022.
The United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, which was established in 2016, honours an individual military peacekeeper's commitment to and achievements in advancing the ideas described in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.
António Guterres, the general secretary of the United Nations, hailed Captain Cecilia Erzuah in a statement. "Resolution 1325 serves as a reminder that our female peacekeepers are paving the road for international security and peace, he continued.
Ghanaian Captain Cecilia Erzuah is unquestionably one of such leaders. Captain Erzuah's initiative has established the bar for ensuring that women's needs and concerns are taken into account in all facets of our peacekeeping operations on every front.
The prize recipient, Captain Erzuah, expressed her thanks and emphasized that her entire battalion is proud to have received it. She is renowned for her support of community involvement and gender equality.
Equal numbers of men and women made up her 22-member platoon, and Captain Erzuah made sure they patrolled often. They interacted with neighbourhood authorities, women's organizations, and youth organizations to better comprehend and solve neighbourhood issues and needs.
She also coordinated conversations on issues including domestic violence, gender equality, and childcare in cooperation with UN civilian coworkers. These discussions helped improve early warning systems for threats of violence against civilians and larger security challenges, as well as the inclusion of women in community protection committees, which were hitherto dominated by men.
The monthly market tours that Captain Erzuah's unit organized helped to forge enduring bonds between locals, business owners, and the UN.
When conflict erupted in the village of Majbong in southeast Abyei in January 2023, Captain Erzuah's unit increased its presence and often checked on the welfare of displaced residents in the unstable region, enabling the military to conduct the task of offering the required assistance.
Community members who had taken cover in the nearby jungle gradually started returning to their houses in the village and reported feeling more secure. The mixed patrols were praised by Majbong's traditional head, Deng Paul Mankuol, who said that they were giving the community's residents more confidence to go about their everyday lives in safety.
The first laureate from a contingent or unit, Captain Erzuah is also the first peacekeeper from Ghana to get this coveted medal. With 375 women presently deployed, Ghana now holds the title of being the greatest supplier of female military peacekeepers to the UN.
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