Late last week, President Paul Kagame and US Vice President Joe Biden hosted an international conference on peacekeeping called at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. As Biden said during his opening remarks, no country was better qualified in understanding the value of effective peacekeeping than Rwanda. Rwanda’s entry into the arena of international peacekeeping gave it a new impetus. Gone are the days when peacekeepers were powerless bystanders when civilians were at risk. Today, Rwandan peacekeepers are in great demand because of their commitment and professionalism that has completely revamped peacekeeping’s image. Many a times the world has been too slow to tackle issues before they escalate into major conflicts that need extraordinary measures to deal with. That lethargy has got to stop. The Right to Protect (R2P) principle should stop being an empty rhetoric but practiced with fervour. Today the world has many hotspots that need intervention, and when it does, it comes too little too late. That is where Rwanda breaks with tradition as was witnessed during the recent crisis in Central African Republic. The speedy deployment and robust but neutral intervention helped quell an otherwise explosive situation. Rwanda’s contribution to peacekeeping, however modest, should be emulated by other countries, some of which have more resources. They should not wait for terror to knock on their doors in order to act.
