165 Bangladeshi peacekeepers killed in 3 decades

As many as 165 Bangladeshi peacekeepers lost their lives while 258 were injured in the line of duty in different UN missions to bring peace to various war-ravaged parts of the world for more than the three decades.

Defense Advisor of Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, Brig gen Md Sadequzzaman said this while briefing a 26-member delegation of US Army War College yesterday (October 22, 2022).

The US Army War College has been visiting Bangladesh mission every year in recent times to learn about Bangladesh's experiences in the field of peace operation.

This partnership comes as recognition of Bangladesh's remarkable contribution to UN peace operations and the reputation and professionalism of Bangladeshi peacekeepers. A senior officer of Bangladesh Army undergoing training in the War College was a part of this delegation.

Brig Gen Sadequzzaman said Bangladesh was always at the forefront of UN peacekeeping operations. The participation of all branches of military forces including the Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force, and Police in peace keeping operation is rare in the world.

So far, 1,81,661 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have participated in 56 UN peacekeeping missions. Currently, there are 7144 Bangladeshi peacekeepers deployed in nine different missions.

He also mentioned that there are currently 542 women peacekeepers deployed in the peacekeeping missions. At present, Bangladesh Police has a female Formed Police Unit in the mission.

Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Muhammad A Muhith discussed Bangladesh's engagements in maintaining international peace and security, sustaining peace and peacebuilding discourses at the UN.

The PR highlighted Bangladesh's socio-economic success, the leadership in adopting two resolutions titled `Culture of Peace' and `Women, Peace and Security' at the UN and a few other resolutions introduced by Bangladesh, such as Vision Impairment, Prevention of Drowning, Natural Plants Fibers and Doha Programme of Action (DPOA).

Muhith is now serving as the chair of the Peace Building Commission, the President of the UN Women Executive Board and recently Bangladesh was elected as the member of the UN Human Rights Council securing the highest votes from the Asia-Pacific Group.

The diplomat also discussed Bangladesh's various initiatives at the UN to resolve the Rohingya crisis.

He recognised that the multidimensional cooperation between the militaries of Bangladesh and the United States is increasing day by day.