Photo By David Flewellyn | Women from more than 20 partner nations pose for a photo during Exercise Shanti Doot 4...... read more read more
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BANGLADESH (March 8, 2018) - Over 100 women from more than 30 different nations are currently participating in the U.N. peacekeeping Exercise Shanti Doot 4 at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace
Support Operation Training (BIPSOT), in Bangladesh.
Shanti Doot 4 is a multinational United Nations peacekeeping exercise with more than 1,000 participants from more than 30 countries designed to provide pre-deployment training to U.N. partner countries in preparation for real-world peacekeeping operations.
These women make up over 10 percent of the participants involved both as instructors and trainees here at Shanti Doot 4. As of 2016 approximately 5 percent of staff officers, 6 percent of military
observers, and 4 percent of all military personnel deployed with the U.N were women. The U.N. sees the value in having women more heavily involved in peacekeeping operations and aims to increase the
percentages of staff officers to 15 percent.
“I think that the nicest thing here is that all of the 35 or so involved countries have been treating the women here equally,” said U.S. Army National Guard Lt. Col. Heidi Munro, a Doctor with the Idaho
Army National Guard Medical Detachment. “They are generally treated as intelligent and respected the same amount as the men wearing the same uniform.”
Munro went on to say that it was refreshing to see so many women from countries with very different cultures getting along with their male counterparts. She also noted that the women seemed
to be breaking down some of the stereotypes and boundaries involving gender. Additionally, having more female military personnel and peacekeepers could be beneficial for the future of peacekeeping
operation as they offer unique skill sets and capabilities that their male counterparts cannot.
Capt. Zannatul Mawa, a medical officer with the Bangladesh Army Dental Corps, echoed similar sentiments. She noted that, especially when it came to dealing with female medical issues and certain
cultural aspects of the countries peacekeepers might be deployed to, women would have an easier time and be more effective.
Munro and Zannatul stated that there are many cultural taboos in place around the globe that prohibit certain interactions between the genders and having female peacekeepers involved in operations would be a huge benefit to the process. Having more capable female peacekeepers in the
future would be hugely beneficial in dealing with these cultural problems in the field. Both women were very happy with the amount of females that were present as both participants and instructors here at
Shanti Doot.
One of the field medicine instructors at Shanti Doot 4 also had observations about the effects of having female instructors and subject matters experts.
“Some of the females were more reserved, but when we put them in a group by themselves and with me it made a huge difference,” said U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. Ashley Mullin, a medic with the
Oregon National Guard 741th Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company. “They felt more comfortable having a female instructor there with them.”
Especially when teaching classes to nations with more conservative views on gender, having a female instructor was useful in helping female service members be more comfortable, said Mullin. She also stated that she hoped it helped to improve how some of the male service members saw their female counterparts.
All three women talked about how they were impressed by the amount of women involved in Shanti Doot 4, and were hopeful for an increase in female participation in peacekeeping operations in the future.
| Date Taken: | 03.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2018 23:16 |
| Story ID: | 268724 |
| Location: | BD |
| Web Views: | 380 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Exercise Shanti Doot Celebrates International Women's Day, by Cpl Adam Montera, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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