New York – The United Nations on Wednesday thanked South Africa for its contribution to peacekeeping?.
Speaking in New York in the U.S, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, “thanked South Africa for its strong support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military and police personnel deployed under the UN flag”.?
South Africa first provided peacekeepers to the United Nations in 1999 when it joined the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). ?
Today, South Africa provides 1 189 uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping, making it the 15th largest contributor among member states.?
It is also the 6th largest contributor of women peacekeepers, with 230 now serving.??
South Africa’s largest deployment is with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), where 1 184 peacekeepers serve.
It also contributes police personnel to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).? ?
In recent decades, South Africa also contributed to UN peace operations in Burundi, Ethiopia-Eritrea, Liberia, Nepal and to the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur, Sudan.?
“South Africa’s peacekeeping contributions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the years, through personnel deployed as part of infantry battalions, helicopter units, and military medical teams, have been essential to efforts to build peace, as well as to ensure the health and safety of fellow peacekeepers,” said Lacroix.?
“In addition, the South African female engagement team’s outreach efforts have significantly strengthened the mission’s relationship with Congolese communities,.?
“The UN appreciates the service and sacrifice of the South African men and women, past and present.
“We will always remember the 50 South African peacekeepers who lost their lives while serving under the UN flag.”
South Africa also endorsed the Secretary-General’s “Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)” initiative, which aims to strengthen peacekeeping through more targeted mandates, stronger and safer operations, better equipped and trained forces, and by mobilizing support for political solutions.?
