Egyptian Female U.N. Peacekeeper Awarded a Medal for Her Work in Congo

In 2014, Nahed Salah was the first Egyptian woman to join the U.N. peacekeeping forces. At that time, she served as the head of the police department of U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in Morrocco. Her main task involved providing assistance to the victims of sexual assault and protecting local women from sexual violence.

Since Salah’s appointment to the U.N. peacekeeping force, the Egyptian minister of interior has increased the number of Egyptian females joining peacekeeping missions. According to a report by Egyptian Streets, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry has stated that as of 2018, around 3,000 Egyptians; men and women, served in U.N. missions across troubled areas in Congo, Mali, Central African Republic, and Darfur.

On Monday, in an honoring ceremony, the Force Commander of the United Nations Organization for Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo Lieutenant-General Elias Rodrigues Martins Filho presented Egyptian Peacekeeper, Nahed Salah, with the United Nations Medal in recognition of her efforts.

The ceremony, which was held at the mission’s headquarters at the city of Goma, saw Salah being honored along with additional 51 military personnel from all over the globe, according to an official press release by the U.N. Information Center in Cairo.

written by: Khadija Salah