A Ghanaian peacekeeper Captain Cecilia Erzuah serving with the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) will receive the 2022 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year award.
Created in 2016, the United Nations “Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award” recognises the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace, and security.
Captain Erzuah is the first Ghanaian peacekeeper, and the first recipient from a contingent or a unit, to receive this prestigious award. Ghana is currently the largest contributor of women military peacekeepers to the United Nations with 375 now deployed.
Captain Erzuah’s work has set the standard for ensuring that the needs and concerns of women are reflected across our peacekeeping operations.”
As an advocate for gender equality and community engagement, Captain Erzuah made sure that her 22-person-strong platoon, composed equally of men and women, conducted regular patrols and outreach to local leaders, as well as women’s and youth groups, to better understand and address community concerns and needs.
Together with civilian United Nations colleagues, she also hosted discussions on domestic violence, gender equality, and childcare. Those conversations increased the number of women enlisted in Community Protection Committees, which were initially male-dominated.
Captain Erzuah was born in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana in 1990. She joined the Ghana Armed Forces in 2016.
One year later, she was posted to the Directorate of Military Records as a Records Officer.
She served for the first time under the United Nations flag with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as a Records Officer from July 019 to August 2020. In March 2022, she was deployed to the UNISFA as Commander of the Ghanaian Engagement Platoon.
