Minister calls on nations to honour peacekeeping pledges

SINGAPORE— The Minister of Internal Security, Musa Fazil Harelimana, has called upon the international community to honour their pledges towards international peace keeping missions to cut on burdens contributing nations face while on these missions. Speaking at the 78th General Assembly of INTERPOL, Minister Harelimana said : “Countries do pledge, but don’t respect their pledges on time, leaving a big gap to be filled by contributing countries like Rwanda.” Harelimana, cited an example where the salaries of peacekeepers are sent a year late forcing the governments to step in to pay their own soldiers. This affects the effectiveness of the troops and puts them in danger since they don’t get the equipment needed to carry out their duties, the Minister said. The meeting is being attended by foreign, justice and home affairs ministers and senior police officials from 153 countries. The meeting’s declaration will be read to a summit of Heads of State and Government that will be discussing the role of international policing in peacekeeping. Rwanda was among the five African countries which were to speak at the convention.Currently, Rwanda has close to 3,000 troops in Darfur. Ends

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Minister calls on nations to honour peacekeeping pledges