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PM-PEACEKEEPING-LEAD
PM for upholding dignity of UN peacekeeping
(Recasts)
NEW YORK, Sept 26, 2018 (BSS) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said
being a leading contributor to the UN peacekeeping forces Bangladesh wants
blue helmet missions’ reforms and elevated dignity as they now appeared to be
faced with growing and newer “unconventional threats”.
“The peacekeepers are now deployed in certain places where there is no
peace to keep and they face growing, unconventional threats from non-state
actors,” she told a High-Level Event on Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) on UN
General Assembly sidelines.
Sheikh Hasina said the UN missions are often working alongside other forces
with different standards and these are making UN peacekeeping operations
difficult and dangerous and therefore the concerns of those on the frontline
must be heard.
“Peacekeepers should, therefore, be given clear mandates and they should be
adequately authorized and equipped to fulfill their mandates,” she said.
The premier also sounded a note of warning against any move for cutting
costs and reducing troops in blue helmet missions saying investment in UN
peacekeeping is “worth every life it saves”.
“(Therefore) reducing costs and personnel can have serious impact on the
ground,” Sheikh Hasina said.
UN secretary General Antonio Guterres took the initiative to stage the
event coinciding with the UNGA session when the Bangladesh premier said “we
must all work with a positive mindset to uphold the dignity of UN
peacekeeping”.
The premier said Bangladesh laid extra emphasis on UN peacekeeping forces
since it was a leading contributor of military troops and police units in the
blue helmet missions in troubled torn global regions.
“We (Bangladesh) have never failed to respond to the UN’s call for
maintaining peace. This year, we celebrated 30 years of Bangladesh’s
contribution to UN peacekeeping operations,” she said.
Bangladesh, she said, would be happy to provide more senior leadership at
the Headquarters and in the field.
She also said the peacekeepers commitment and performance should set the
benchmark for their deployment while “troops and police contributing
countries should be taken into confidence by the Security Council and the
Secretariat”.
“Their safety and security must be improved. We hope that A4P will help
make UN peacekeeping ‘fit for purpose’,” the premier said.
The event was held at the Trusteeship Council Chamber in the UN
Headquarters on Tuesday afternoon local time where Guterres also spoke.
The Declaration of Shared Peacekeeping Commitments, she said, was an
important outcome and “it underlines the collective responsibility of all
concerned” and “it reaffirms (as well) the primacy of politics for UN peace
operations”.
The premier, however, said the Declaration should have meaningful follow-up
and the commitments should be accounted for, adding “Bangladesh stands ready
to do its part.”
Sheikh Hasina said many Bangladeshi peacekeepers lost their lives on the
line of duty but “our resolve to serve has not been shaken” and “we can now
deploy our peacekeepers in the shortest possible time”.
“We train them well and in advance. They adapt fast to any challenging
situation and they work to win the hearts and minds of the people they
serve,” she said.
But, the premier said Bangladesh stressed the safety of its troops in UN
missions in performing the tasks to protect civilians where needed and so “we
have provided mine-protected vehicles to our troops in Mali with our own
resources”.
“We are following suit in other Missions … our peacekeepers are also
advised to reduce their environmental footprint,” she added.
Sheikh Hasina said she was personally interested for female peacekeepers
deployment in enhanced number and therefore Bangladesh deployed “our first
female helicopter pilots in the Democratic Republic of Congo” setting a
“milestone for us”.
“I remain committed to the work of the Secretary General’s Circle of
Leadership,” she said.
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