A SENIOR Woman Inspector in the Fiji Police Force is the first officer in Fiji’s disciplined forces to be appointed to represent the country in a new United Nations mission area.
Woman Inspector Rusila Cakacaka presently holds the post of Inspector of Police/ Administration at the Lautoka Police Station, and her selection makes her the first Fijian to be deployed for mission duties under the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).
The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) was established through a United Nations Security Council Resolution 1990 of June 27, 2011, whereby it authorised the deployment of a peacekeeping force to the disputed Abyei Area, which straddles Northern and Southern Sudan and has been claimed by both sides.
“I am glad that the UN has recognised the contribution of women in policing in mission areas and I am honoured and privileged to have the Commissioner’s approval in representing not only the Fiji Police Force but the country as a whole in a new mission area,” W/IP Cakacaka said.
Originally from Nakama Village in Labasa with maternal links to Korowiri, W/IP Cakacaka’s selection to represent Fiji under the UNISFA banner will mean the mother of two will have two mission tours under her belt.
“In 2010, I was the lone female officer deployed to UNAMID in Darfur with 14 male officers, so being in a male-dominated field is nothing new to me, but more of a personal challenge because I get to show that gender should not be an obstacle in one realising their goals and dreams,” she added.
Fiji’s Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho who had recently returned from a trip overseas made it a priority to farewell W/IP Cakacaka noting the significance of her selection.
“You are going to be the lone Fijian UN officer in that mission, so you will carry first and foremost your own individual flag, the flag for your family, mataqali, yavusa and yasana, and also for the Fiji Police Force and for Fiji,” Brig-Gen Qiliho said.
“As a United Nations representative, you are also a global ambassador and that carries a lot of weight for us as a nation because any negative or positive issues will be communicated through New York and back to us here,” he added.
According to the Fiji Police Force, W/IP Cakacaka spent majority of her childhood in Fiji’s Friendly North having attended Holy Family Primary, as well as All Saints Secondary and completed her secondary school education in Suva at Dudley High School, before choosing a life of service as a young member of the Fiji Police Force.
With a career spanning three decades, the soft-spoken officer says the life of a police officer has been challenging but rewarding.
As she prepares to fly out on Monday morning to open a new chapter of Fiji’s proud United Nations Mission Service history books, she hopes her achievements will inspire young girls and her fellow women officers.
