A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And this is an adage that rings true for Unaisi Vuniwaqa, the Police Commissioner for United Nations Mission to South Sudan (UNMISS).
Her journey has taken her from the small village of Dravuwalu, in Totoya, Lau, to the war-torn country in east-central Africa.
As she explained, she had dreamt of being a leader since she was a little girl. That dream made her leave her island home to further her studies at Lelean Memorial School before completing her secondary school education at Laucala Bay Secondary School.
After completing her studies, Ms Vuniwaqa was faced with a dilemma about which career path to follow. Becoming a police officer was a decision based more on pragmatism than passion for Ms Vuniwaqa.
“You undergo six months of training. The more traditional career paths for women in Fiji at that time, teaching and nursing, meant two years of study,” she said.
Ms Vuniwaqa went against the grain and opted to join the Fiji Police Force in 1986, thus marking the beginning of what was to become a trailblazing career. In 1995, the mother of four was appointed head of a newly-created Sexual and Gender-based Violence Unit.
This played right into Ms Vuniwaqa’s cards as she is a staunch supporter of women empowerment and protection.
One fact that Ms Vuniwaqa is proud to witness today is the increase in the number of women within the Fiji Police Force.
“It has been an interesting journey ever since I joined. Back then, the percentage of female officers was just about 5 per cent, but now we’re sitting at 21 per cent,” she said.
Ms Vuniwaqa credits the police women’s network within the force for paving the way for young women to not only join the force but ascend to senior ranks.
She is currently on leave from her work in Sudan, which she says is the apex of her glittering career.
After attaining her Master’s in Business Administration and Management from the University of the South Pacific (USP) in 2015, Ms Vuniwaqa was selected to head the Fiji Police Forces contingent to the United Nations Mission to South Sudan, a country ravaged by civil war and human rights abuses.
In 2017, she was appointed to deputy Police Commissioner of the UN Mission in South Sudan. A year later, Ms Vuniwaqa was promoted to Police Commissioner, the first woman to hold the post as well as the highest-ever post held by a Fijian within the UN Police.
Her job ensures the safety of people living in UN civilian protection sites, of which 13 per cent of South Sudan’s displaced 1.6 million people, are sheltering.
“It’s a tough job to uphold and it comes with many challenges each and every day,” she says. Ms Vuniwaqa hopes to see more women recruited into the police force, much like what she has seen in Fiji.
She will play an integral part this week in the Fiji Police Women in Policing Golden Jubilee Celebrations.
The week-long event celebrates the contribution of women in the Fiji Police Force since the first female recruits in 1970.
Ms Vuniwaqa is the perfect example of what young women and girls can achieve not only in the police force but life in general.
“As women, if you are there at the top, you really need to support those coming after you. It’s incumbent on women to do that, and inspire those who will be following us, so one day they could be in that position,” she said.
Young women and girls in Fiji don’t need to look further than Ms Vuniwaqa for inspiration, for she has surpassed all expectations from her humble beginnings in Dravuwalu Village to the highest office of the UN Police Force in South Sudan.
