Breaking prison barriers in the Central African Republic: changing the position of women in the field of security

According to Téné Maimouna Zoungrana, an officer from Burkina Faso serving with the UN Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), women are often “placed second or even ignored” when they are employed as corrections officers in prisons and other detention centres. Talking ahead of the International Day of Peacekeepers, which is marked annually on 29 May, she explains how she continues to break down gender barriers.

As the Coordinator of the Security Teams at the largest and most notorious prison in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Ngaragba Central Prison in Bangui, her main task is to work with national partners, to build their capacities to maintain law and effective justice systems, which is a key function of peacekeeping. As the main trainer of rapid intervention activities, she and her team support national prison staff in crisis management. She has introduced rapid intervention training modules into the national curriculum of CAR’s prison administration.

The field of security is a typically male-dominated environment, where women are often placed second or even ignored, because of stereotypical perceptions that men are better suited for the job. Zoungrana had the courage to break down barriers and assert herself confidently in this field. In her view, the key factor in her success is her perseverance. She volunteered to lead, where other colleagues resisted. She gave maximum effort to the tasks, often more than male colleagues. To help increase the number of women deployed in non-traditional roles, she sensitised women to take an active part in the tasks that some consider are better suited for men. She said, “My proudest achievement is the recruitment and initial training of 300 civilian professional prison officers, including five women, who are part of the prison administration’s rapid intervention team set up in 2022”.