UN peacekeeping boss wants Lebanon to serve as a model
Agence France Presse(AFP)
Saturday, September 16, 2006
UNITED NATIONS: With some 89,000 personnel deployed around the world, the United Nations is struggling to fulfill its far-flung peacekeeping missions and counting on increased contributions of troops from developed countries. The current beefing up of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon offers a model of what UN peacekeeping should be lke, according to Jean-Marie Guehenno, the French head of UN peacekeeping operations (DPKO).
"We are on track to deploy a very significant force there because a whole category of countries that used to stay away from peacekeeping is re-engaging," Guehenno said. "It's an event of historical importance."
European countries are providing the backbone of a sharply expanded UN force in Southern Lebanon expected to reach up to 15,000 troops.
"We have a deployment on a time frame - a couple of weeks after a conflict - that is unprecedented in recent years," he said. "That makes the point that if the political will is there, it is possible."
He expressed the hope that the Lebanese operation would impress upon rich countries the need to bolster overstretched UN peacekeepers.
The UN force helping Lebanon secure its borders in line with the UN resolution that ended the 34-day war with Israel includes 2,450 Italian troops, 2,000 from France and 1,100 from Spain.
It is also to include smaller troop contingents or naval units from Bangladesh, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Sweden and Turkey.
Another major challenge has been shaping up in Sudan, where the UN wants an existing 12,273-strong force beefed up to 17,300 troops and 3,300 civilian police to take over peacekeeping from a cash-strapped African Union force.
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Saturday, September 16, 2006
UNITED NATIONS: With some 89,000 personnel deployed around the world, the United Nations is struggling to fulfill its far-flung peacekeeping missions and counting on increased contributions of troops from developed countries. The current beefing up of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon offers a model of what UN peacekeeping should be lke, according to Jean-Marie Guehenno, the French head of UN peacekeeping operations (DPKO).
"We are on track to deploy a very significant force there because a whole category of countries that used to stay away from peacekeeping is re-engaging," Guehenno said. "It's an event of historical importance."
European countries are providing the backbone of a sharply expanded UN force in Southern Lebanon expected to reach up to 15,000 troops.
"We have a deployment on a time frame - a couple of weeks after a conflict - that is unprecedented in recent years," he said. "That makes the point that if the political will is there, it is possible."
He expressed the hope that the Lebanese operation would impress upon rich countries the need to bolster overstretched UN peacekeepers.
The UN force helping Lebanon secure its borders in line with the UN resolution that ended the 34-day war with Israel includes 2,450 Italian troops, 2,000 from France and 1,100 from Spain.
It is also to include smaller troop contingents or naval units from Bangladesh, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Sweden and Turkey.
Another major challenge has been shaping up in Sudan, where the UN wants an existing 12,273-strong force beefed up to 17,300 troops and 3,300 civilian police to take over peacekeeping from a cash-strapped African Union force.
keep reading
posted by Huda Nassar at 7:20 PM
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