Strengthening Peacekeeping through Inclusion: Women in Field Medical Assistance

In recent years, efforts to make peacekeeping more inclusive have gained momentum, yet a persistent gender gap remains, particularly in technical areas such as field medical support. In United Nations peace operations, gender parity is not only a matter of representation but operational effectiveness. Unequal access to training directly affects unit preparedness and performance in high-risk environments.

Within this context, the Women’s Outreach Course (WOC), a new addition to the Field Medical Assistants Course (FMAC), represents a targeted operational response. Developed under the Triangular Partnership Programme (TPP), it addresses not only participation gaps but also how training conditions affect the translation of skills into capability. 

Established in 2015 within the Department of Operational Support, the TPP aims to strengthen the readiness of uniformed personnel for UN and AU peace operations. Initially focused on engineering, it has expanded to include medical training and other critical capabilities in response to field needs. The WOC reflects this shift toward more tailored, needs-driven training. 

The WOC was piloted in December 2025 alongside an FMAC and its Training of Trainers (TOT) component, integrating key operational elements, including explosive hazard awareness. FMAC equips non-medical personnel with life-saving skills for use before professional medical support becomes available, while the TOT component enables trained personnel to cascade these skills at both UN and national levels. 

The WOC emerged directly from training feedback. After-Action Reviews showed that some women could not fully engage in hands-on and scenario-based exercises. As noted by TPP Medical Training Officer responsible for organizing the FMAC TOT training, the training involves “full-body physical contact,” such as casualty evacuation and hemorrhage control, which can present cultural, religious, or practical barriers. These constraints affected engagement, confidence, and skill acquisition for several participants. 

In response, the WOC was designed to create a more conducive learning environment that enables full participation across both theoretical and practical components, without changing core competencies. This highlights that training effectiveness depends not only on content but on how it is delivered. 

The operational implications are significant. FMAC focuses on and contributes to life-saving interventions that directly impact survivability. As emphasised by TPP Training Officer, Mary Njeri Thiong’o, “ensuring that women are equally trained in these critical competencies strengthens overall unit readiness and resilience.” 

Beyond immediate operational gains, increasing women’s participation in FMAC supports broader mission objectives. Female personnel often play a crucial role in engaging local communities and operating in sensitive environments, enhancing both inclusivity and effectiveness in line with the Women, Peace and Security agenda. 

Participant testimonies underscore this impact. Captain Lanteka Lovia, an FMAC TOT WOC graduate and its instructor, described the hands-on training as a “real life experience,” and noted that the Women’s TOT component builds professional confidence by creating “equal opportunity to be also trainers,” just as their male counterparts.

Despite progress, challenges remain. The limited nomination of women for technical training reflects broader national constraints related to pipelines and role allocation. Addressing these issues requires sustained engagement with Member States and closer alignment between training and deployment. 

Overall, the WOC contributes to a more adaptive and sustainable training ecosystem by improving accessibility, strengthening local capacity, and developing qualified trainers. It reflects a broader shift in peacekeeping effectiveness – one that recognises inclusivity as integral to building operational capability.