Today (16 June), an international conference of female peacekeepers has opened in Shangri-La Hotel in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia is hosting the three-day event under the auspices of Mongolian President U.Khurelsukh to increase the role of women in peacekeeping operations.

With the theme of “Women, Peace and Security,” it gathered hundreds of representatives and female peacekeepers from more than 30 countries and several international organizations, such as the United Nations.

The participants are discussing challenges facing countries in achieving gender equality in the UN military and police missions.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first deployment of Mongolian peacekeepers to UN peacekeeping operations.

Since then, Mongolia has sent a total of over 20,300 military personnel, including more than 900 female peacekeepers, to UN peacekeeping operations around the globe, said U.Khurelsukh at his opening speech.