Eighty Rwanda National Police Individual Police Officers (IPOs), including 73 women, will on January 25 leave for year-long peacekeeping operations in four separate United Nations missions.

Forty of the female peacekeepers will be deployed under Unamid in Darfur, Sudan, while others will head to South Sudan (Unmiss), Ivory Coast (Unoci), and Central African Republic (Minusca).

The Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana, speaking during the pre-deployment briefing at the RNP headquarters in Kacyiru, on Thursday, challenged the officers to be focused on their mandate and professionalism.

 "Uphold the Rwandan and RNP values, and serve within the boundaries of your mission with maximum discipline,” IGP Gasana said.

He urged them to work with other peacekeepers, ensure continuous improvement in their tasks and be catalysts for peace and stability in their respective missions.

RNP currently maintains over 600 police officers in eight UN missions with 21 per cent of them females.

They are deployed in Haiti, Mali, Darfur, Abyei, South Sudan, Ivory Coast, CAR and Liberia.

Rwanda is among the leading contributors of women police officers in international peacekeeping missions. It is also one of the few countries that have elaborated the UN Security Council Resolution 1,325 action plan.

The resolution urges all actors to increase the participation of women in conflict resolution, peacekeeping and incorporate gender perspectives in all UN peace and security efforts.

Rwanda’s Chief Inspector of Police Antoinette Umuraza was in October appointed the chairperson of the United Nations Police (UNPOL) Women Network under the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (Minusca).