UNIFIL’s Sector West Headquarters yesterday organized, for the first time, an experience exchange workshop between female members of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the UN Mission’s women peacekeepers, in Shama, south-western Lebanon.

The workshop – attended by five LAF soldiers and 12 UNIFIL peacekeepers from China, Ghana, Ireland, Italy, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia – sought to enhance LAF-UNIFIL cooperation and partnership, and to provide the LAF soldiers with an interesting and different perspective related to the experiences of other female soldiers serving with UNIFIL. This is expected to lead to enhanced joint activities around gender and civil-military cooperation projects in the future.

The initiative served a platform for the women from different countries and backgrounds to discuss and find solutions for the common problems and challenges they face.

The head of UN Peacekeeping, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who was on a visit to Lebanon, also briefly addressed the women participants of the workshop.

The LAF currently has more than 4,000 women in its ranks. More than a quarter of them were recruited since March 2017 when the current Commander, General Joseph Aoun, took charge. The LAF has made it a priority to enlist more women in its ranks.