By Kiran Butt
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) — Pakistan on Thursday urged countries across the world to make sure UN peacekeepers have full security while carrying out their duties, especially in conflict zones.
"We have to address the rise in peacekeeper fatalities. We must stand firm in holding accountable the perpetrators — individuals and groups — that harm or threaten UN peacekeepers," interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani said at an annual UN meeting on peacekeepers in the capital Islamabad.
Pakistan is hosting the 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Preparatory Meeting on Safety and Security of Peacekeepers, where Jilani underscored that all UN member states are committed to ensuring peacekeepers' security.
"Pakistan is proudly contributing over 4,000 troops to various ongoing UN peacekeeping missions," he said, praising the UN for a recent initiative to build a memorial commemorative wall in New York. He also acknowledging the sacrifice of peacekeepers killed in the line of duty, including 172 Pakistanis.
Improvised explosive devices pose a particularly grave threat to peacekeepers' security, said Jilani, suggesting that UN member countries enhance pre-deployment training of peacekeepers.
This two-day event, co-hosted by Japan, is serving as one of four preparatory sessions ahead of the actual ministerial set to be held in Ghana in December. That meeting is held every two years with the participation of the foreign and defense ministers.