Téné Maïmouna Zoungrana

United Nations Trailblazer Award for Women Justice and Corrections Officers Nominee

Téné Maïmouna Zoungrana supports one of the most difficult tasks of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) — the demilitarisation of the Central African Republic (CAR) prison system. She leads and coordinates rapid intervention activities at Ngaragba Central Prison, the largest and most dangerous prison in CAR with a population of predominantly high-risk male detainees.

In crisis situations, including riots and prisoner escapes, Maïmouna has led the MINUSCA rapid intervention response. With her vast technical expertise in crisis intervention, she has mentored United Nations colleagues and national prison staff and created a women-only rapid intervention team. She has also contributed to the demilitarization of the CAR penitentiary system, by building the capacity of penitentiary personnel and integrating rapid intervention training into the national curriculum.

Maimouna has contributed enormously to strengthening the effectiveness and accountability of CAR penitentiary institutions. Her capacity-building support, combined with her mediation and communication skills, have helped build effective security and rapid intervention teams able to quickly manage and control security crises, leading to a significant reduction in the number of escapes at the prison.

Government-Provided Personnel

GPP are individuals like Téné who are nominated by their governments to serve with United Nations peace operations. Justice and corrections GPP provide expertise that is generally only found in national government services, such as national prison services, the judiciary and prosecution. Téné is one of the 108 GPP in MINUSCA who provide advisory, capacity-building and operational prison security support to national counterparts.

United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic

MINUSCA is one of the twelve current UN peacekeeping operations. Established by the Security Council in April 2014, MINUSCA is mandated to protect civilians and create conditions conducive to national reconciliation and durable peace in Central African Republic (CAR), where over 63 per cent of the population (more than 3.1 million Central Africans) require protection and humanitarian assistance.

The MINUSCA corrections component is mandated to support the CAR authorities in the fight against impunity and the establishment and reinforcement of a new national prison service. This includes the recruitment, training and capacity-building of national corrections officers, as well as improving prison management, security, and conditions according to international norms and standards.

United Nations Trailblazer Award for Women Justice and Corrections Officers

The first United Nations Trailblazer Award for Women Justice and Corrections Officers recognizes the outstanding contributions of government-provided personnel in UN peace operations by highlighting women who blaze the trail in areas and roles traditionally reserved for men.

You can follow the entire campaign on the United Nations Office of Rule of Law Facebook page or the Assistant Secretary-General for Rule of Law Alexandre Zouev’s Twitter page.

To learn more about the award, click here.