By Ding Wendong and Yu Wei
BEIRUT, Oct. 30 – Dutch Major Brigitte Verhoeven, the military gender advisor of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), recently visited the Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon and held cordial talks with Chinese female peacekeepers.
During her visit, Maj. Verhoeven went to the 19th Chinese peacekeeping medical contingent and multifunctional engineer contingent to Lebanon, and visited their working, training and living venues. She admired the enthusiasm and dedication of these female peacekeepers, and spoke highly of China's support to the United Nations peacekeeping and the important role of Chinese female peacekeepers in the tasks.
Based on the previous questionnaire survey on the "Female peacekeepers in the peacekeeping tasks", Maj. Verhoeven also held in-depth talks with the female peacekeepers and cared their concerns. She expressed that UNIFIL will spare no effort to help Chinese female peacekeepers solve their problems during the peacekeeping tasks.
China has increased the proportion of female peacekeepers in recent years. It is learnt that there are 420 peacekeepers in the 19th Chinese peacekeeping force to Lebanon, among which 22 are female. Li Weiwei, the dentist in the medical contingent, said, "The female peacekeepers can better fill the social and cultural gap between countries. We can truly know more about the life of Lebanon women through our work and try our utmost to serve their benefits and needs. "