Canada not walking the walk when it comes to female peacekeepers: expert
OTTAWA — Canada is looking at ways to help other countries boost the number of female peacekeepers, despite itself having only a handful of Canadian women in blue helmets and berets.
Global Affairs Canada hosted a special two-day session starting Thursday with representatives from several countries as well as the United Nations, civil society and academia to brainstorm ways to get more female peacekeepers deployed.
The Trudeau government and the UN have emphasized the need for more women in peacekeeping as an essential contributor to long-term peace and stability in war-ravaged parts of the world, and last year committed $21 million toward that goal.
Yet one expert says as much as there is a genuine need to increase the number of women on peacekeeping missions, Canada is not walking the walk: only six of the 40 Canadian peacekeepers deployed with UN at the end of January were women.