Visiting officials from Kenya’s International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSCT) yesterday visited Rwanda National Police (RNP) headquarters in Kacyiru and praised the force's policies and efforts in gender mainstreaming.

The officials, including Colonel Eric Lusaala, Major Daniel Sitin and Catherine Njeru, a Gender Specialist at IPSTC are in the country for a five-day study tour to share best practices in gender equality which they intend to adopt back in Kenya.

In a meeting with top RNP leadership, the team said Rwanda offers the best lessons in gender promotion strategies – and singled out RNP for upholding values of gender equality.

"It is clear that RNP aims at promoting women officers through capacity building and giving them equal rights and opportunities to rise through to decision making levels within the force,” Col. Lusaala said.

"Rwanda offers the best practical example that suits our mission at IPSCT - which is to conduct applied research and training of military, police and civilian personnel – with a core emphasis on gender equality in all aspects of peacekeeping in order to help improve the effectiveness of the international response to emergencies.”

He pointed out that although Kenya’s gender mainstreaming process is still facing challenges, his government would adopt best practices to ensure that the country achieves its ambition of gender equality.

"In Kenya we haven’t had as much success as Rwanda and that is the reason we are here. We want to learn from RNP, the parliament and other Rwandan institutions that have been successful in gender mainstreaming processes.”

The Inspector General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana, explained that empowering women and promoting their participation in society is important for any society in the quest for social transformation.

"Gender equality is not a privilege but a right. Police emphasise that both women and men officers are provided with equal opportunities in all policing programmes. We also work with other institutions such as the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion to ensure advocacy and monitoring of gender issues throughout the country,” he said.

Since its establishment in 2000, RNP integrated gender policies in all its programmes and currently boasts of over 20 percent of female officers and is among the world’s largest contributor of female peacekeepers.Police targets to increase its female force to 35 percent by 2018.

RNP also conducts the Police Women Convention every year, through which female officers share experiences, review their goals and seek solutions to their challenges.

Gender promotion in RNP and women participation in peacekeeping is also in line with the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325/2000 which urges all actors to increase the participation of women in conflict resolution, peacekeeping and incorporate gender perspectives in all United Nations peace and security efforts.