Indonesia commits to sending 1,000 more peacekeepers to UN Missions

Indonesian soldiers take part in the United Nations Peacekeeping Force parade in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on October 16 last year. (Photo: VNA)

Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi has affirmed Indonesia’s commitment to sending 1,000 more personnel to the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions.

“The commitment to promoting training and capacity building of the peacekeepers is absolutely necessary to support mandates of the missions and to ensure their safety,” the minister said at the 4th UN Peacekeeping Ministerial (UNPM) Meeting chaired by the Republic of Korea on December 7.

Marsudi went on to say that amid the pandemic, the peacekeepers are assigned to support the host country in handling COVID-19, thus knowledge of public health is really important.

She said the Triangular Partnership Project which is expected to take place in Indonesia next year is a manifestation of the country’s commitment to fostering the innovative partnership which helps increase the capacity of female peacekeepers, particularly in their tasks to protect civilians.

Also at the meeting, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand pledged an additional 7.7 million CAD over two years to the Elsie Initiative for Women in Peace Operations to help strengthen peacekeeping operations.

Anand said the Government of Canada will increase contributions to the UN Secretary-General Peacebuilding Fund and provide an additional 2 million CAD to support the implementation of the principles that the nations attending the 2017 peacekeeping meeting in Vancouver agreed. As of the end of September, Canada had 57 soldiers and police officers participating in the UN peacekeeping force./.