Lt-Gen Azhan (right) receiving the award in Berlin. – BERNAMApic
BERLIN: Malaysia has been honoured with a United Nations award recognising the participation of female peacekeepers in its peacekeeping missions.
The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) Headquarters said that the award recognised the work and involvement of female peacekeepers from the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), which successfully achieved the goals set by the Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy (UGPS).
It stated that Malaysia is one of the countries advocating for the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, noting that women constitute 10.5% of the total personnel involved in the Malbatt Unifil peacekeeping mission.
“Besides Unifil, MAF has also deployed female peacekeepers as military observers and staff for Monusco (UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Minurso (UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara), and Unisfa (UN Interim Security Force for Abyei),” the statement added, Bernama reported.
The MAF said the award presented at the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial 2025 in Berlin recognises Malaysia’s contribution to upholding international peace and security on a global scale.
Other recipients were Fiji, Guatemala, Kenya, Malawi, Mongolia and Tanzania.
MAF Headquarters Chief of Staff, Lt-Jen Datuk Azhan Md Othman, and military adviser to the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the UN Kol Shamsuri Noordin attended the award ceremony.
On Tuesday, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin reaffirmed the country’s continued commitment to supporting the WPS agenda in line with the UGPS.
