Governments should recruit more women into their national forces so that they can serve at UN field operations, an award-winning peacekeeper from Zimbabwe has said. 

Major Winnet Zharare is the recipient of the 2021 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award, presented by the UN Secretary-General during a ceremony on Thursday in observation of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. 

Major Zharare spent 17 months at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) where she championed gender parity within her own ranks, but also among local military counterparts and in host communities. 

Ben Malor of UN News asked the former UN military observer about her experience there, the benefit of having “wicked” parents, and the importance of encouraging more women to work for the cause of peace.