Bangladesh makes 26 pledges to UN Peacekeeping operations

Bangladesh has made 26 pledges to the United Nations Peacekeeping operations at the 2019 United Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting on Friday.

“To meet the UN requirements, Bangladesh has pledged 26 Peacekeeping Capability Readiness System (PCRS) components, including nine from Army, six from Navy, three from Air Force and eight from police,” said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam.

In addition, Bangladesh has also pledged a unit for operational-level Unmanned Aerial Surveillance (UAS), in partnership with the United States, the state minister added.

“We have also demonstrated our commitment by contributing to the norms setting part of peacekeeping, including through our active participation in Action for Peacekeeping Agenda and in other parallel processes like C-34”, he also said.

Referring to the atrocity committed against civilians during the Liberation War, Shahriar Alam said, “We have endorsed the Kigali Principles on Protection of Civilians (PoC) and incorporated a strong and comprehensive PoC component in our peacekeeping training with in-built demonstration and tabletop exercises.”

He also mentioned the “zero tolerance” policy taken by Bangladesh towards sexual exploitation and abuse in UN Peacekeeping and reaffirmed the country's commitment for increasing number of female peacekeepers to achieve the target set by UN.

The state minister said Bangladesh has been supportive to Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda of the UN since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325.

“We are currently developing a national action plan to empower women in playing their natural role as peacemakers,” he added.

Shahriar Alam stressed on the importance of adequate resources and critical enablers to ensure safety, security and performances of the peacekeepers.

He enumerated Bangladesh's recent supplies of modern vehicles and other peacekeeping equipments in several UN missions.

The state minister also highlighted on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's commitment to UN's Peacekeeping operation and the vision of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for a peaceful world.