J&K COP WINS UN’S FEMALE PEACEKEEPER AWARD

UNITED NATIONS: An Indian inspector with the Jammu and Kashmir police has bagged the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 insti tuted by the UN for her “excep tional achievements” while serving with the UN mission in Afghanistan.

38-year-old Shakti Devi currently deployed in the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), was also cited for her efforts towards help ing victims of sexual and gen der-based violence. The award is instituted by the UN police division.

Devi, who has 14 years of serv ice in Jammu and Kashmir Police has been honoured for her “excep tional achievements” in leading the establishment of women police councils in several parts of Afghanistan, the UN police divi sion said in a communication to the Indian mission here.

The award was delivered during the International Association of Women Police conference held earlier this month in Winnipeg, Canada.

“Women folks are always complaining about investiga tions not done properly. So our main focus is to provide justice to the women of Afghanistan,” Devi said while reacting to the honour bestowed on her “We are working closely with Afghanistan police, especially women police, so that crime cases can be brought down.” The UN communication said Devi has contributed to the improvement of the status of female police and has effectively helped the police of Afghanistan move towards achieving their goals of fully adopting demo cratic principles of policing.

India is the largest contribu tor to UN peacekeeping opera tions, having contributed more than 170,000 troops in 43 out of 69 peacekeeping missions mandat ed by the UN Security Council