UN peacekeepers
'Group of Friends' launched to make crimes against UN peacekeepers answerable
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith has said the attacks against the peacekeepers must be dealt with seriously.
"Reinvigorated efforts and initiatives are needed by all stakeholders to ensure and promote accountability for crimes against peacekeepers," he said while speaking at the launching event of “Group of Friends to Promote Accountability for Crime against Peacekeepers” at the UN Headquarters recently.
Six countries – Bangladesh, Egypt, France, India, Morocco and Nepal as co-chairs have launched the “Group of Friends to Promote Accountability for Crime against Peacekeepers”.
In the launching event, the External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S Jaishankar delivered the keynote speech.
While the Permanent Representatives of five other co-chair countries, including Bangladesh delivered statements.
Also read: Bangladesh’s achievements made it an example for other countries to emulate: UN
The Under-Secretary General of the Department of Peace Operations, Jean Pierre Lacroix and the representative from the Department of Operational Support also addressed the meeting, according to a media release.
In the keynote speech, mentioning that upholding accountability for crimes against UN peacekeepers is a multi-stakeholders’ task, the Indian External Affairs Minister emphasised on regular monitoring and follow-up on accountability issues.
Bangladesh Permanent Representative Muhith mentioned that Bangladesh’s commitment to the peacekeeping operations comes from the vision of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for a peaceful world.
He emphasised on effective engagement with the host state, swift investigation into the incidents, capacity building of the host state, use of digital technology and addressing misinformation and disinformation campaigns against the peacekeepers as critical issues in order to ensure and promote accountability for crimes against peacekeepers.
This Group of Friends will act as a platform to promote accountability for all acts of violence against the United Nations peacekeepers by facilitating support to the host state, creating awareness, exchanging information, sharing best practices, supporting initiatives, and mobilizing resources.
On the day of launching, 36 member-states joined the newly formed Group of Friends, the media release said.
UN peacekeepers face greater threats from complex conflicts
The more than 87,000 personnel in U.N. peacekeeping missions are confronting greater threats today because conflicts have become more complex and are driven by an increasing number of factors ranging from ethnic tensions and the impact of organized crime to illegal exploitation of resources and terrorism, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said Friday.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix said in an interview with The Associated Press that even compared to two or three years ago, “most of our peacekeeping missions have a political and security environment that has deteriorated.”
In addition and “equally important," he said, is that the conflicts are “multi-layered" and very often local and national, but also regional and global. He pointed to Africa's impoverished Sahel region, which is seeing increasing terrorist activity, as an example.
Read: UN official: Myanmar people want UN sanctions, peacekeepers
What is causing this change in how U.N. peacekeepers have to operate are a number of factors starting with increased political divisions among the U.N.’s 193 member nations, he said.
The drivers of conflict are increasing, Lacroix said, and there are also what he called “conflict enhancers,” including digital technologies, the impact of fake news and misinformation on conflicts, and “armed groups using increasingly sophisticated means to undermine our actions.”
The U.N. currently has 12 far-flung peacekeeping operations — six in Africa, four in the Middle East, one in Europe and one in Asia — with the more than 66,000 military personnel from 121 countries joined by over 7,000 international police and 14,000 civilians.
Lacroix said peacekeepers continue to make “a huge difference” in countries where they oversee cease-fires like Cyprus and south Lebanon in terms of preventing conflict, and “they also make a huge difference in terms of protection of civilians, even though we would like to be able to do more.”
But the undersecretary-general for peace operations said the drivers of conflict “are massively impacting the conflicts in which we’re involved.”
“They pose increasingly important threats to countries in which our missions are deployed, and frankly to the region where we are operating,” he said.
“Are we equipped enough as a multilateral system to address these threats?" Lacroix asked rhetorically. “I’m not sure. I think there’s probably more that should be done in those areas.”
He called an upcoming ministerial meeting on U.N. peacekeeping in Seoul, South Korea on Dec. 7-8 an important opportunity to improve the performance and impact of peacekeepers and “the effectiveness of our tools,” and to mobilize international support for these efforts.
Lacroix said “a significant number” of ministers and senior officials from all U.N. member states are expected in Seoul, stressing that high-level participation is “critically important” as an expression of support for U.N. peacekeeping, which is funded by a separate U.N. budget amounting to $6.38 billion for the year ending June 30, 2022, as well as voluntary contributions.
He said the peacekeeping department has circulated a list to U.N. member nations of what it needs to improve the protection of peacekeepers against ambushes, improvised explosive devices and attacks, and to protect their camps. The list also includes improved medical support and equipment to make peacekeepers more nimble, mobile and reactive, especially more helicopters, he said.
Lacroix said there are two other very important areas: improving the missions’ ability to collect and process information to better prevent threats instead of having to react to them, and increasing the number of women in peacekeeping operations “because we know for a fact that more women in peacekeeping means more effective peacekeeping.”
He said it will be “tremendously important” to have governments support the department’s “strategy for the digital transformation of peacekeeping because we strongly believe that if we make the best possible use of these new technologies, then it can be a game changer for peacekeeping.”
Read: Another UN peacekeeper killed in Mali, 5th in a week
To do that, he said, the U.N. has to improve what he called “the digital literacy of peacekeeping and our peacekeepers,” which means more training.
If the peacekeeping department and peacekeepers are better at using digital technology, the men and women in the field can be better protected, Lacroix said.
“We can probably better communicate and also counter misinformation,” and the U.N. can better collect and process information “in a way that can enable effective action," he said.
But Lacroix said if peacekeeping is to succeed — “which is to create the conditions where peacekeeping missions can leave” — it is “critically important” that governments support political efforts to achieve this goal.
He said there must also be a recognition that more and more peacekeeping operations are part of broader efforts and partnerships that can build different capacities, including security, or help provide humanitarian assistance in places like Congo, South Sudan or Mali.
“We have to make sure that we are playing a role where you can make the best possible difference, and other partners have to have that same approach, and we need to be complementary to each other,” Lacroix said.
UN to honour eight fallen Bangladeshi peacekeepers
The UN will honour eight fallen peacekeepers from Bangladesh to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on Thursday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said their service and sacrifices will never be forgotten, according to a press release from the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Dhaka.
Guterres will preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to 129 military, police and civilian peacekeepers, including the eight from Bangladesh. They lost their lives serving under the UN flag last year and in the first month of this year, the release said.
Also read: Bangladesh calls for greater int’l efforts for safety, security of peacekeepers
He will lay a wreath to honour more than 4,000 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.
The fallen Bangladeshi peacekeepers are Abdul Md Halim who served with MINUSMA; LCpl Md Abdulla Al Mamun and Sgt Mohammad Ibrahim who served with United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), Sgt Md Mobarak Hussain, LCl Md Saiful ISLAM, Md Saiful Imam Bhuiyan and Sgt Md Ziaur RAHMAN who were deployed with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); and Washerman Nurul AMIN of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
Bangladesh is the largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping.
Also read: UN lauds Bangladesh's peacekeepers
It currently deploys more than 6,600 military and police personnel to the UN operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Mali, South Sudan, and Western Sahara.
In a message to mark the Day, the Secretary-General said: “I express my deep gratitude to the 85,000 civilian, police and military personnel currently deployed in some of the world’s most challenging hotspots to protect the vulnerable and help to build peace.
The theme for this year’s observance is “The road to a lasting peace: Leveraging the power of youth for peace and security.”
Read Dhaka seeks strong global resolve to end Palestinian crisis permanently
Nature of peacekeeping has changed: FM
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said the nature of peacekeeping has changed due to the use of advanced technology and sophisticated weapons, the misuse of social media and the ongoing global epidemic.
He made the remarks at the “Army Chiefs' Conclave” at multipurpose complex of Dhaka Cantonment.
Bangladesh Army organised the seminar with the participation of local and foreign military and civilian dignitaries.
Also read: Bangladesh tops in UN Peacekeeping Mission
Foreign Minister Momen said meaningful mutual cooperation, increased participation of women and development of health-related emergencies were essential to address the challenges posed by this unprecedented global epidemic in establishing world peace.
The main topic of discussion at the seminar was ‘Future Trend of Global Conflict: The Role of UN Peacekeepers’.
Dhaka reiterates importance of ensuring safety, security of peacekeepers
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima has reiterated the importance of ensuring safety and security of the peacekeepers.