In this episode, May-Britt V. R. Ronnebro speaks with Solveig Schmeing, a Swedish police officer working as a UN mission police officer in South Sudan.

They discuss the importance of female leadership in the context of peacekeeping and human rights.

Solveig shares her experiences working with female police officers in South Sudan, where the level of education is low.

She explains how she and her colleagues started an ABC class to teach basic literacy skills to female police officers.

The support for the class was good, and 80% of the participants were able to write their own names after one year. This initiative highlights the impact of female leadership in empowering women in policing.

Takeaways

• Female leadership is important in peacekeeping and human rights missions.
• The level of education and needs of female police officers vary depending on the location.
• Starting from the basics, such as an ABC class, can help empower female police officers.
• Support and recognition from higher authorities are crucial for the success of initiatives like the ABC class.

Sound Bites

• “We are just here to give them some more push forward and they will soon be able to handle this all by themselves.”
• “Even if UN has a lot of money, I will not be able to give you any of those things. But we do have a lot of knowledge. We do have a good education. So me and my colleagues can give you that.”
• “But we also had to learn that once in a time.”

Chapters

• 00:00 Working with Police Officers from Different Countries
• 00:27 ABC Training for Female Police Officers
• 06:36 Success of the ABC Training
• 08:42 Implementation of the ABC Training
• 09:07 Conclusion and Resources

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