Ghanaian named UN Female Police Officer of the Year

Chief Superintendent Phyllis Ama Tebuah Osei has been named the United Nations Female Police Officer of the Year. The senior officer was recognized for her “exemplary work in the field, which has directly and positively impacted the local community and helped to build the capacities of the host state Police in Jubaland”. Chief Superintendent Ama Osei is currently serving with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). The award was presented during a ceremony co-hosted by the UN Police Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Permanent Mission of Canada on Monday. C/Supt. Osei was deployed to Somalia in February, 2018. By April, she had already identified and trained two gender focal points in AMISOM who went onto mentor and advise police officers in the host state police, a UN official said, thereby contributing to the building of a much-needed capacity. Soon after, she established four gender desks in Somalia, facilitated a training on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV ) and initiated a proposal that called for the establishment of a Police post near the community thus ensuring access for SGBV survivors. The UN describes her as an officer who “has been particularly successful at initiating an adult literacy training for 49 female police officers in Jubaland. The training’s overall goal is to improve their literacy and increase their chances for future promotions. She also formed a Female Peacekeeper Network (FPN) within UNSOM and AMISOM to provide support to female peacekeepers”. She worked in various units in the Ghana Police Service before taking up the appointment at UNSOM. She’s a Psychologist and Counsellor to both police officers and victims of abuses. She also worked as the liaison officer at the Joint Operation Centre where she excellently coordinated several special operation duties between the Ghana Police Service and other sister security agencies in Ghana. Mrs Osei is also a trainer and has worked at the Ghana Police Academy as a Lecturer and a Directing Staff at Police Command and Staff College. Her last assignment in Ghana before taking up UNSOM duties was at the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) where she diligently investigated issues relating to Domestic Violence, particularly against vulnerable women and children. Source: editors.3news.com|Ghana with additions from police.gov.gh