Nepal has become the third largest Troops and Police Contributing Country (TPCC) in terms of the number of peacekeeping forces sent to serve in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in the war-ravaged countries.
The country’s security forces — Nepali Army (NA), Nepal Police and Armed Police Force (APF) — deployed in the operations has ranked third since June 2021 with further increase in the participation of Nepali peacekeepers in various 12 UN peacekeeping missions in different parts of the world.
In all, 5,686 Nepali security personnel are currently serving in the missions. These include contingents, military observers and staff officers, according to Brigadier General and spokesperson for Nepali Army Headquarters Shantosh Ballave Poudyal.
Prior to this, Nepal had emerged as the fourth largest TPCC on January 1, 2020 with an increased participation of Nepali peacekeepers in the missions. At that time, a total of 5,658 security personnel from the country were serving in the UN peacekeeping missions.
Of the total Nepali peacekeepers currently serving in various UN Missions, the Nepali Army alone has sent over 5,000 troops in Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Western Sahara, Israel, Lebanon, Mali, Syria, Central African Republic, Iraq and Libya.
Besides progress in the TPCC rank, Nepali Army’s Lieutenant General Ishwar Hamal has been currently serving as the Head of the Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to Golan Heights.
Nepal for the first time had shown its participation in the UN Observation Group in Lebanon in 1958. Since then, some 135,000 security personnel of Nepali Army had already served in the missions.
Other largest troops contributing countries to the missions include Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Rwanda. Bangladesh and Ethiopia rank the first and second respectively.
They have been contributing 6,626 and 6,113 troops respectively.
India, which is in the fifth position, has been contributing 5,548 troops. In 12 UN Missions across the globe, 78,988 troops are currently participating in the UN peacekeeping missions.
Source : TRN,
