At UN Peacekeeping Meeting, Ethiopia calls for Informal Military Deployment Trend to Be Curbed
ADDIS ABABA – Member states of need to curb the ongoing trend of informal and out-of-the-radar military deployment, especially in Africa, State Minister of foreign affairs told UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting on Tuesday.
Sate Minister Ambassador Redwan Hussein this in a pre-recorded video speech delivered to the meeting hosted in South Korea’s capital, Seoul.
His speech has raised two crucial points that concern Ethiopia with regard to the country’s role in peacekeeping missions, according Ministry of Foreign affairs.
Ambassador Redwan requested the UN to lift a newly introduced requirement that applied to Ethiopia’s peacekeeping deployment which is based on a petition of one member state in violation of the United Nations Charter and the rules and working methods of the Organization.
He also called on member states to curb the trend of informal and out-of-the-radar military deployment, especially in Africa.
This compromises the lives of peacekeeping personnel, tarnishes the reputation of peacekeeping missions, Redwan said.
It also invites hostility from host communities, the state Minister added.
Ambassador Redwan also reiterated Ethiopia’s commitment to strengthen its peacekeeping missions.
The sacrifices Ethiopian peacekeeping troops pay for the peace of Africa is a sacrifice we pay for our own peace, he said, urging the global community to support such missions with the necessary finance and political backing.
The two-day meeting in Seoul will highlight “medical capacity building and technology in peacekeeping as important cross-cutting issues”.
More than 100 Member States and intergovernmental organizations are partaking in the meeting to give political support and pledge resources to improve peacekeeping operations.
Prior to the meeting in Seoul, stakeholders had held various preparatory meetings regarding peacekeeping missions where Ethiopia had also co-hosted a meeting on the topic of “partnership for training and capacity building” with Indonesia and Japan.