Members of the police force contingent of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) attend a medal presentation ceremony in Nicosia, Cyprus, on May 2, 2019. The head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, awarded medals to 18 members of the police force contingent of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on Thursday for their contribution to the maintenance of peace in the eastern Mediterranean Island. (Xinhua/Zhang Baoping)
NICOSIA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The head of the United Nations peace mission in Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, awarded medals to 18 members of the police force contingent of the UN Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on Thursday for their contribution to the maintenance of peace in the eastern Mediterranean Island.
Accompanied to the event was Acting Senior Police Advisor, Chief Superintendent of UNFICYP, Su Dongxu, from China, who took up his post a month ago.
In presenting the "In the Service of Peace" medals, Spehar noted that the UN police component of UNFICYP has currently 23 female officers out of a total of 60 police officers, "a remarkable ratio of over 33 percent".
"The figure is not about numbers. Women police officers are the lynch pins of relation with local communities and they are excelling when it comes to encouraging people to report certain kinds of crime, such as sectoral abuse," Spehar said.
During the presentation ceremony she also dealt with current efforts by the United Nations to restart the stalled peace negotiations for a Cyprus peace settlement.
She said UNFICYP, of which the civilian police force is part, plays a vital role in supporting the peace process, "not the least by creating conditions conductive to successful negotiations and to a sustainable outcome".
"The United Nations believes there is still scope to thing creatively and to act decisively about the way forward. For our part, the UN, we stand ready to assists the two (community) leaders and the women and men of Cyprus to pave the way ahead to a brighter shared future for all," she said.
A personal envoy of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is currently trying to convince the parties in the Cyprus problem to agree on the terms of reference of negotiations which were interrupted almost two years ago.
Spehar commended the host of the medal presentation ceremony, Superintendent Su Dongxu, saying that "he has a wealth of experience in international policing and has taken up his role with great professionalism".
Welcoming his guests, Su Dongxu said that the police members of the Cyprus peace force have shown a high degree of integrity and congratulated them for zero tolerance to crime in the buffer zone which they patrol regularly.
He said police force members who received medals, after three months of service with UNFICYP, come from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), China, Ireland, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.
Wang Xiaojing, a police woman from China told Xinhua after she received the medal, "It is my great honor to carry on my duty in the UN force in Cyprus. I will contribute myself to the future work and maintain peace and order here."
