Islamabad has increased the deployment of female staff officers in its United Nations peacekeeping missions to 15 per cent, the Foreign Office (FO) announced on Tuesday night.

UN Peacekeeping had in 2017 set a target for recruiting 15pc women as military observers and staff officers by the end of the year.

FO spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal tweeted that "Pakistan is proud to have achieved the goal of deployment of 15pc female staff officers in UN Peacekeeping Missions."

Women from Pakistan have served on the front lines of international peacekeeping missions as police officers, doctors and nurses and one of its female police officers even received the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in 2011.

Pakistani woman police officer Shahzadi Gulfam, who was deployed on a UN peacekeeping operation, received the 2011 International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in recognition of her outstanding performance. She was deployed with the UN Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) as the UN Police (UNPOL) team leader posted in the Timor-Leste National Police Vulnerable Persons Unit in Dili, the capital.