Monrovia – Ten years after India’s all-women Formed Police Unit packed up its last tour in Liberia, a new report says their biggest weapon wasn’t a baton – it was an example.
By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway
The report, _”The Legacy and Contributions of India’s All-Women Formed Police Unit (FPU) in UNMIL/Liberia, 2007–2016,”_ was launched Tuesday at the Cape Hotel by the Ducor Institute for Social and Economic Research in collaboration with the Indian Embassy.
Brigadier General Geraldine Janet George (Rtd), Liberia’s Minister of National Defense, served as Chief Launcher.
The event drew diplomats, security officials, civil society, and researchers to reflect on how 125 Indian women police officers helped reshape post-war Liberia.
First of Its Kind in UN History
In January 2007, India deployed the first-ever all-women FPU to a UN peacekeeping mission. Drawn from India’s Central Reserve Police Force, the officers came mostly from small towns and villages.
For a decade, they conducted patrols, riot control, public order management, training, medical support, and community outreach alongside the Liberia National Police.
Ambassador Manoj Verma said the deployment was historic from day one.
“When they arrived, they were not merely deployed as peacekeepers. They were making history,” he said.
A Bond Between Nations
Ambassador Verma described the FPU as the human face of India-Liberia ties, noting the report launch fell between Liberia’s July 26 and India’s August 15 independence days.
He maintains that both countries share democratic values and South-South cooperation in education, health, and trade.
He also highlighted India’s broader peacekeeping record: more than 300,000 personnel in 50+ missions since the 1950s, with women Indian peacekeepers still serving in DRC, South Sudan, Lebanon and elsewhere.
More Than Security: Changing Minds
Researchers say the FPU’s most enduring impact was social.
For many Liberian girls and women emerging from 14 years of civil war, seeing women in uniform, commanding patrols and managing crises, challenged deep-seated ideas about who could protect a nation.
In her own assessment, Minister George indicated that the unit proved women’s role in peace goes beyond symbolism.
“It demonstrated the vital role women can play in maintaining peace, protecting communities, strengthening public confidence and supporting post-conflict recovery,” she noted.
Minister George then urged policymakers to use the report to guide future Women, Peace and Security initiatives.
The deployment aligned with former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s push to increase women’s participation in security and governance, and with UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
One officer, former FPU Commander Seema Dhundia, has since risen to Inspector General of Police in India — a sign, officials said, of how the Liberia mission advanced women’s careers back home too.
The Ducor Institute report, authored by Dr. Aaron Weah, identified gaps in records, oral histories, and archives.
It recommends preserving documents, collecting testimonies in Liberia and India, integrating the FPU story into police training, and building public memorials.
The event also featured a photo exhibition and coincided with a US$1 million IBSA Fund project supporting women legislators in Liberia.
Members of Liberia’s Women Legislative Caucus were in India for a peer-learning exchange during the launch.
Nearly 20 years after the first Indian women peacekeepers arrived in Monrovia, their footprints remain — not just in barracks and patrol routes, but in the aspirations of a generation of Liberian women who saw what was possible.
