SLP trains 30 female officers for peacekeeping operations

The Sierra Leone Police (SLP), with funding from the British Peacekeeping Support Team in Africa (BPSTIA), ended a three-day peacekeeping capacity building workshop for thirty (30) female personnel at the Police Wives Vocational Training Hall, Kingtom Barracks.

The workshop brought together former, current, and prospective female peacekeeping officers to provide a forum for experience sharing, mentoring, and strategic engagement aimed at improving female leadership, participation, and performance in peacekeeping deployments.
The training focuses on key peacekeeping principles, such as the nature of conflict in Africa, United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) peace agreements, and the fundamental principles of peacekeeping missions.
In his keynote address, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Sahr Yomba Senesi emphasised that the Sierra Leone Police, under the astute leadership of Inspector General of Police Mr William Fayia Sellu, remains steadfastly committed to gender sensitivity and inclusion.
He revealed that several key positions in the SLP are currently led by female officers, including the Corporate Services Directorate, Community and Gender Directorate, Peacekeeping Department, Operational Policy and Planning Department (OPPD), and some Divisional Headquarters across the country.
DIG Senesi also recalled that the current SLP leadership demonstrated a strong commitment to women’s empowerment by allocating a 100% quota to female personnel who served in the Formed Police Unit Five (FPU-5) peacekeeping mission in Somalia.
He stated that capacity building is a key component of the SLP 2025-2029 Strategic Development Plan (SDP), and that the workshop is intended to properly prepare and position female officers for effective participation and leadership in peacekeeping missions.
The initiative reflects the SLP’s ongoing efforts to promote gender equality, improve professionalism, and strengthen Sierra Leone’s participation in regional and international peacekeeping operations.