US envoy Alice Wells 'inspired' by award-winning Pakistani female peacekeepers

US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells says she was inspired by the award-winning Pakistani female peacekeepers serving in war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“Inspired by Pakistani women serving with distinction in the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC,” said a tweet shared on Wells behalf by the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs on Wednesday.

The US diplomat, in her tweet, commended the first Pakistani all-female group of 15 peacekeepers, who received medals last week for their work performing a range of services to the conflict-affected eastern DRC.

Earlier this month, Pakistan’s female peacekeepers, deployed with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), were awarded a UN medal at a ceremony in Adikivu in South Kivu, one of the provinces of the central African country.

The team of 15 female officers, who serve at the ranks of major and captain, have been stationed in the war-torn country since June last year.

The officers are psychologists, stress counsellors, vocational training officers, gender advisors, doctors, nurses, operations officers, information officers and logistics officers.

Pakistan has a long history of sending its troops to various UN peacekeeping missions and has also been recognised as one of the largest contributors of troops and police for decades.

According to the UN, Pakistani troops are currently serving in seven UN operations, with the vast majority of them deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Darfur region of Sudan and the Central African Republic.