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SpotlightARE HERE”YP’S WOMEN PEACEKEEPERSThe first woman in uniformSWEDCON leads the wayWomen in UNPOLIn 1974, UNFICYP welcomed its firstwoman in uniform. The ‘Lady Doctor’,Christina Norberg, was deployed forthree months with the Swedish Battalionin the summer of 1974 to replace herhusband Capt Erik Norberg who hadbeen recalled to Stockholm on urgentfamily matters. The Blue Beret notesthat “there was a definite increase in thenumber of patients” as Dr. Norberg, apaediatrician in civilian life, set about hertasks as Senior Medical Officer in CarlGustav Camp. “It was the first time theForce Commander had seen a beautifulgirl in the Officers’ Mess,” ran the articlein the Blue Beret. “A UN-girlsoldiercorrect in every detail except possibly forher shoes, which were a little bit morefemale.” Indeed!Five years after the brief deploymentof Dr. Norberg, Sweden began tosend women regularly in its militarydeployment to Cyprus. “SWEDCON’sfirst girls”, announced the Blue Beret inMay 1978. The moment was capturedwith a photograph of a woman’s legs onparade amid a line-up of trousers. TheSwedish Post Office was responsiblefor the arrival of Louise Ekblom andAnne-Marie Johansson, who wereon duty in SWEDCON’s post office inCamp Victoria. “Now they are here” isthe headline from the November 1979Blue Beret. Twelve women in total weredeployed that year as postal clerks, IDcard officers, nurses and signal centreofficers, the beginning of a continuouscontribution by women in uniform to thepeacekeeping force in Cyprus. Swedenwould be the only contingent to havefemale members for quite a number ofyears.-- Major Hans Akke, Senior PersonnelBLUE BERET Officer of SWEDCON, 1985 19March/April 2014In 1988, Australia sent its firstpolicewoman to Cyprus, SergeantKathy Burdett, who opened the way forSwedish policewomen to join UNFICYPfor the first time in 1991. Interestingly,delays in implementing the decisionto send women police to UNFICYPwere initially due to inadequateaccommodation facilities for femalepolice members.I think it was a good thing whenwe decided to have girls in thebattalion. We are very satisfiedin the way the girls perform theirtasks… They like their jobs andthey want to do the same jobs asthe boys. All the girls are obligedto fulfil OP-duty for at least oneday and night – all do it withoutcomplaining.