An "empowering" Pacific experience led Fiji's Unaisi Bolatolu-Vuniwaqa into a top international security role in South Sudan, she says.
Ms Bolatolu-Vuniwaqa has been appointed the United Nation Mission's Police Commissioner in South Sudan, leading a force of 1500 officers from 42 countries.
United Nation Mission in South Sedan Police Commissioner Unaisi Bolatolu-Vuniwaqa Photo: Supplied
Female police in the Pacific had skills the mission needed and that made them capable of holding high-profile international roles like her own, she said.
"The lessons learned ... and the experiences that we have had over the years, of course can help us in this setting that I am in at the moment and I'm sure any other policewomen in the region will be able to do the same given the opportunity that I have had," she said in an interview from Juba.
Ms Bolatolu-Vuniwaqa said she was proud to hold her position with the UN mission, not only as a Fijian, but also as a woman from the Pacific.
One of her aims is to increase the number of women in the force.
At present only one in five officers is female, despite much of the work revolving around the protection of women and children.
Ms Bolatolu-Vuniwaqa said more than half of the people in the UN peacekeeping bases in South Sudan, formally known as Protection of Civilians sites, are women and children, and safety and security programmes there are largely conducted by female officers.
Displaced children sit at a camp near Kadugli, the capital of Sudan's South Kordofan state Photo: AFP or licensors
"Having more women would provide service delivery that is really relevant to the people that we serve," she said.
She said women in the force also played a role empowering and supporting female officers within the South Sudanese national police.
The police chief paid tribute to the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Women's Advisory Network which has inspired her policing work.
"All these activities that we have in the region really can empower our women, to challenge us for positions such as what I am in right now," she said.
"Nothing is impossible because when you come into the international policing platform, what we have done in the region really can support us and we can bring that with us in terms of experience, particularly for policing in post-conflict situations.
"It's a matter of taking the challenge," she said.
