Burkinabe peacekeeper awarded the UN woman police of the year

Chief Warrant Officer Alizeta Kabore Kinda of Burkina Faso is the recipient of the 2022 United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.

A ceremony was held today (31 Aug) in New York, during which Officer Kinda received her award from UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix. 

Chief Warrant Officer Kinda serves as a gender focal point with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), where she supports the Malian Security Forces in the Menaka region to promote and improve understanding of gender, child protection, human rights and civil protection issues. 

Following her efforts, more victims of sexual and gender-based violence are coming forward to report their cases to local authorities and to receive medical care – now three or more per month from none before her arrival. 

Her efforts have also focused on expanding the number of girls in schools and reducing early marriages.

Chief Warrant Officer Kinda’s career has focused on protecting and promoting women’s and children’s rights, including between 2013 to 2015, when she was a gender focal point in the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO). 

In her home country of Burkina Faso, she performed these duties within the Ministry of Security and the Regional Brigade for the Protection of Women and Children, a unit of the national police, as an investigator on sexual violence and exploitation.

The United Nations Woman Police Officer of the Year award was established in 2011 to recognize the exceptional contributions of women police officers to UN peace operations and to promote women’s empowerment.