As a country, Rwanda is committed to continue making her modest contribution towards UN peacekeeping operations in conflict-ridden countries. This assurance was given by the Chief of Defence Staff of the Rwanda Defence Forces, Gen Patrick Nyamvumba, as he met at his office on Tuesday with a delegation of 23 officials from the United Nations headquarters.
As a country, Rwanda is committed to continue making her modest contribution towards UN peacekeeping operations in conflict-ridden countries.
This assurance was given by the Chief of Defence Staff of the Rwanda Defence Forces, Gen Patrick Nyamvumba, as he met at his office on Tuesday with a delegation of 23 officials from the United Nations headquarters.
The officials were in Rwanda between February 8 and 10, as part of their tour to different troop and police contributing countries, during which they discussed challenges pre- and post-deployment and general well-being of peacekeepers in their respective missions.
"We do recognize that this comes with serious challenges; doctrinally, we try to make sure that our men and women we deploy in peacekeeping do understand what it means, including sacrifice,” General Nyamvumba told the UN delegation
Rwanda is ranked the 5th largest troops and police contributing country worldwide, with a total of 6,596 peacekeepers currently deployed in seven peacekeeping missions.
The delegation thereafter visited the peacekeepers pre-deployment training centre at Rwanda Military Academy Gako to learn more about the training and preparations of peacekeepers. At Gako, Rick Martin, the Director of Field Budget and Finance Division at UN Headquarters, wrote in the visitors book the following: "The investment of Government of Rwanda in this significant training facility is reflecting the commitment and professionalism that the UN has come to expect in Rwanda’s contribution to peacekeeping”. The team noted that they were impressed by the Government's efforts in the preparation of officers to be deployed in peacekeeping missions.
"We have been very impressed by the way you have been preparing all different officers that are going to be deployed in peacekeeping”, said Omar Lisandro Castaneda Solares, one of the delegates.
He commended Rwanda for the priority given during the training to many principles of peace and security (neutrality and impartiality), and on the protection of the population affected on ground, specifically women and children. Since 2004, Rwanda has participated in 14 peacekeeping missions and contributed 44,883 military and 3,894 police personnel towards these missions around the world.
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