Indian Ambassador Presents Ex-President Sirleaf Report on Women Police Unit’s UNMIL Legacy | News

Indian Ambassador to Liberia Manoj Bihari Verma has paid a courtesy call on former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, presenting her with a research report documenting the contribution and legacy of India’s All-Women Formed Police Unit (FPU) deployed under the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

According to an official Facebook post by the Embassy of India in Monrovia, Ambassador Verma presented Sirleaf with the report titled, “The Contribution and Legacy of India’s All-Women Formed Police Unit in the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).”

The study examines the deployment of the Indian FPU in Liberia from 2007 to 2016, marking the first-ever all-women contingent in the history of United Nations peacekeeping.

It assesses the origins of the deployment, the unit’s operational roles, its contribution to Liberia’s post-war security-sector reform and its broader significance to the UN’s Women, Peace and Security agenda.

The report describes the deployment as a landmark innovation in peacekeeping, providing a visible and practical demonstration of women’s participation in peace and security.

The unit arrived in Liberia at a critical period of post-war recovery, when public institutions, particularly the security sector, were undergoing reconstruction and women remained significantly underrepresented in security roles.

According to the study, the Indian FPU went beyond symbolic representation, undertaking a range of operational responsibilities including static security, patrols, public-order support, riot control, mentoring, training, medical services and community engagement.

The researchers said these activities contributed to more gender-sensitive policing and helped strengthen public confidence in law enforcement.

Researchers at the Ducor Institute for Social and Economic Research also credited the unit with inspiring increased recruitment of women into Liberia’s security institutions and boosting confidence and operational ambition among female security personnel.

The report, however, notes that the FPU’s legacy remains insufficiently documented. It identifies gaps in the preservation of deployment rosters, rotations, personal experiences and community testimonies.

The study also highlights continuing barriers facing women seeking operational command and leadership positions within Liberia’s security institutions.

To preserve and expand the unit’s legacy, the report makes five recommendations, including the archival preservation of the FPU’s history, oral-history documentation in Liberia and India, and incorporation of the Liberia experience into peacekeeping and police-training curricula.

It also calls for stronger support for women’s recruitment, retention and promotion within security institutions, as well as public memorialization through exhibitions and educational materials.

The Indian Embassy said Liberia’s experience demonstrates that women’s participation in peacekeeping is most effective when it is operational, visible and institutionally supported.

The Embassy and the Ducor Institute said the documentation effort contributes to preserving Liberia’s post-war recovery experience, highlighting India’s peacekeeping contribution and supporting the continuing evolution of women’s roles in peace and security.

The presentation to former President Sirleaf also underscores the historical significance of the initiative, given her role as Liberia’s former president and Africa’s first democratically elected woman president.