UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan has called for “proactive and robust” triangular cooperation among the UN Security Council, the troop-contributing countries (TCCs) and the UN Secretariat for effective and result-oriented peacekeeping in trouble spots around the world, as a two-day Chiefs of Defence Conference opened on Thursday.
“Troop-contributing countries are the United Nations eyes and ears on the ground, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi said, while participating in the Security Council’s debate on ‘Strengthening Triangular Cooperation”.
In her remarks, she highlighted the value of their (troop-contributing countries’) input for the work of the Secretariat and the Security Council, and assured of Pakistan’s continued support to U.N. peacekeeping operations.
To further improve those relationships, she cited a need to institutionalise triangular cooperation, especially against the backdrop of more volatile operating environments and a chorus of demands for doing more with less.
Peacekeeping missions do not need another layer of formal mechanisms, Ambassador Lodhi stressed, adding that formal meetings should be revitalised to maximize their benefits and ensure meaningful dialogue well ahead of mandate renewals.
As elected members of the Security Council are playing a bridge-building role, she also called for efforts to further strengthen that element of triangular cooperation.
Pakistan is one of the largest contributors of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping. Currently, Pakistan contributes more than 5,200 military and police personnel to the UN peace operations in the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Sudan, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
Ambassador Lodhi told the 15-member Council that Pakistan has been a consistent troop-and police-contributor for nearly six decades, with over 200,000 personnel serving in 46 missions around the world. Pakistan’s troops are dedicated, professional, well-trained, well-equipped and prepared to act in all circumstances, she said.
Earlier, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said triangular Cooperation was particularly relevant today, in the light of UN chief Antonio Guterres’s Action for Peacekeeping Initiative (A4P).
That strategy is designed to make missions stronger and safer, refocusing peacekeeping with more realistic expectations, and assembling greater support for political solutions, he said.
Meanwhile, the Defence Conference, which began on Thursday, is the third such conference, which is held every other year. One hundred and twelve countries are attending the conference, with more than 500 delegates present.
The theme of this year’s Conference is Generating Capabilities to Meet High-Performance Requirements in UN peacekeeping.
UN Officials said It aims to generate solutions for issues such as performance, training and expanding the role of women in peacekeeping operations. The Conference builds on the recent ministerial meeting in March, where Member States renewed their collective engagement with UN Peacekeeping through the Secretary General’s Action for Peacekeeping initiative.
