30 countries meet in Kigali for peacekeeping conference

May 28, 2015

Delegations from at least 30 top UN troop contributing countries are meeting in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss how to protect civilians in conflict areas during peacekeeping operations.

By Taddeo Bwambale

Delegations from at least 30 top UN troop contributing countries are meeting in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss how to protect civilians in conflict areas during peacekeeping operations.

The conference also brings together the ten financial contributing countries and Rwandan institutions to review implementation of the Protection of Civilians mandate in peacekeeping.

The cardinal role of UN peacekeepers and the international community is the protection of civilians under imminent threat.

However, differences in expectations and understanding of mandates of troop contributing countries are still major challenges for the UN in its 70 year history.

Rwanda, which is hosting this year’s peacekeeping conference, was victim of the UN peacekeeping failures during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

Over 100 days, more than one million Rwandans were killed in spite of the presence of UN peacekeeping force stationed in the country that did not intervene to protect civilians.

Rwanda has since become the fifth largest global contributor of UN peacekeepers, and the third in Africa.

The conference in Kigali will discuss the challenges of peacekeeping and make proposals on how to enhance collective efforts to protect the most vulnerable.

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