Luisa Diane Namboua and Chief-Sergeant Laure Christelle Djimadoum-Narom-Ko
In the CAR, working with explosive ordnance is often seen as a man’s job. Yet two women are quietly proving the opposite. Through training, discipline, and courage, Luisa Diane Namboua and Chief-Sergeant Laure Christelle Djimadoum-Narom-Ko are showing that national women professionals can operate safely and effectively in one of the most high-risk fields of peace operations, while directly contributing to MINUSCA’s mandate to protect civilians and to UNMAS’ efforts to build national capacity in mine action.
Luisa: from weapons and ammunition management (WAM) assistant to Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) associate with UNMAS
Luisa did not start as a deminer. She was first recruited as a weapons and ammunition management assistant, which gave her a solid understanding of arms control and physical security andstockpile management, and safety rules. Because of her strong performance, she was selected to attend EOD Level 1, then Level 2 and Level 3 at the Regional Post-Conflict Demining and Clearance Centre in Benin. She was the only woman in the course, and she passed. Today, she works as an EOD Level 3 operations associate with UNMAS in CAR.
Back in Bangui, she immediately put her skills to the service of operations. Luisa supported operational tasks and delivered explosive ordnance risk awareness sessions for United Nations personnel and NGO partners. In total, more than one hundred staff members strengthened their knowledge on how to recognize a dangerous item, what immediate actions to take, and how to report safely, a crucial step in a context where civilians, peacekeepers, and humanitarian workers can all be exposed to explosive threats. She also contributed to trainings on Explosive Ordnance Threat Mitigation (EOTM) for national authorities, as well as to the collection and destruction of obsolete ammunition. For UNMAS and MINUSCA, these are not “box-ticking” trainings: every staff member who knows how to behave in an explosive environment is one incident avoided, one life potentially saved..
“There are not many women in this field, but our presence shows that it is demanding and still accessible,” Luisa explains. “I am proud to contribute to peace and security in my country.”
Her visibility matters just as much as her skills. When national authorities or other women see her training others, wearing personal protective equipment, or speaking about explosive safety, they see that mine action is not reserved for men or for internationals. This is exactly the spirit of Women, Peace and Security.
Chief-Sergeant Laure Christelle: first national woman EOD 3, now operating in real missions
The second story is just as powerful. Chief-Sergeant Laure Christelle Djimadoum-Narom-Ko is the first Central African woman in the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) to complete EOD Levels 1, 2 and 3. This became possible after sustained UNMAS advocacy with the national authorities to nominate qualified women to specialized courses. She completed 23 weeks of intensive training in a field where knowledge, skills and professionalism are non-negotiable.
But training alone is not enough. To consolidate skills and accumulate experience, UNMAS MINUSCA placed newly graduated national EOD Level 3 staff into mentored teams working with contracted EOD operators. Christelle was among them, at that time the only female EOD Level 3 in CAR. Under daily quality assurance and supervision, she supported real tasks such as planning, risk assessment, cordon set-up, verification and securing of munitions, transfer to safe storage, and participation in destruction when required. Each task ended with a debrief to correct small issues early and strengthen reporting. That is how a trainee becomes a real operator.
In parallel, she helped deliver short and practical EOTM modules to MINUSCA units and national counterparts. This two-way approach, operations feeding training, and training feeding operations, allowed her to grow fast, safely and visibly.
“If we are trained to the same standard, we can deploy to the same tasks. I want other Central African women in uniform to see that it is possible,” says Chief-Sergeant Laure Christelle.
Did you know?
Did you know that Luisa was the only woman in her EOD 3 course in Benin, and that Chief-Sergeant Laure Christelle is the first Central African woman in the FACA to complete EOD Levels 1, 2 and 3, and that both are now training others and helping MINUSCA and UNMAS to protect civilians and build national capacity in mine action?
In a context like in CAR, where explosive remnants of war will remain a challenge for years, investing in women like Luisa and Chief-Sergeant Laure Christelle is one of the smartest ways to ensure that mine action is not only delivered today by a UN mission, but will continue tomorrow by national, competent, and inclusive teams.
This is Women, Peace, and Security in practice.