Pakistan top
contributor to UN peacekeeping
UNITED NATIONS—With Pakistan topping the list of troop contributors, the
U.N. peacekeeping deployment reached a historic high at the end of
October, the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) has
reported.
Nearly 81,000 military and police personnel and some 15,000 civilians
serving in peace operations around the world in 18 different missions,
and a budget that could reach $7 billion, Under-Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno said.
“The unprecedented growth represents a growing confidence in United
Nations peacekeeping as a means to help build stability after conflict,”
he said in a statement. The previous peak in the 58 years of UN peace
operations was in July 1993, when 78,444 so-called “blue helmets” were
deployed, almost one third of them in the UN Protection Force in Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
“These new demands have also brought unprecedented challenges to the
United Nations, including in the areas of personnel, resources,
management, logistical support, quality assurance, professionalism and
oversight, as well as the challenge of maintaining the political
engagement of Member States,” Guéhenno said.
The current surge began in October 2003, with the deployment of five
major operations -to Liberia, C’te d’Ivoire, Haiti, Burundi and the
Sudan - and the expansion of the mission in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC).
Over the past three months, the newly established UN Integrated Mission
in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) and the increased deployment in the UN Interim
Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) contributed to the record-breaking number of
uniformed personnel in the field.
The 18 DPKO missions are in Africa, the Caribbean, the Middle East,
Europe and Asia. Peacekeeping personnel come from some 112 countries. As
of 31 October, the top 10 troop contributors were: Pakistan (9,790),
Bangladesh (9,655), India (9,276), Jordan (3,819), Nepal (3,522), Ghana
(2,674), Uruguay (2,583), Ethiopia (2,568), Nigeria (2,429) and South
Africa (2,077).
Peacekeeping is paid for by all Member States, according to an agreed
upon formula which they established. The current top 10 financial
contributors are: the United States (27 per cent), Japan (19 per cent),
Germany (9 per cent), United Kingdom (7 per cent), France (7 per cent),
Italy (5 per cent), Canada (3 per cent), Spain (3 per cent), China (2
per cent) and the Netherlands (2 per cent).
As of 31 October, the annual peacekeeping bu get was $4.75 billion
(excluding the mission in Timor-Leste and possible expansion of the one
in Sudan), and outstanding contributions stood at $2.5 billion. With the
full deployment of the operation in Lebanon and if the mission in Darfur
gets underway, the budget could go as high as $7 billion.—APP |
