Major Aroof Arif was appreciated as the only female officer for participating in the gruelling Dancon March – a taxing 25km march in five hours. Another Pakistani officer, Major Sadia, is a proud member of the UN Integrated Training Team for the last two years.
Similarly, other female officers have also excelled with 39 trained in the Centre for International Peace and Stability (CIPS) – established by Pakistan to share its experience and promote best practices in peacekeeping – and 23 female attaining the requisite training in other international institutions of repute.
Earlier this month, members of the first-ever Pakistani Female Engagement Team (FET), deployed with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), were awarded the UN Medal at a ceremony in Adikivu in South Kivu.
This team of 15 female officers, who serve at the ranks of Major and Captain, was stationed there in June last year, marked by the raising of Pakistan’s flag at the mission.
The officers include psychologists, stress counsellors, vocational training officers, gender advisors, doctors, nurses, operations officers, information officers and logistics officers.