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India urges for political solutions over peacekeeping response
By Arul Louis
United Nations, Feb 13 (IANS) Warning that more reliance on stronger peacekeeping operations will not bring peace or protect peacekeepers in high-risk environments, India has urged the UN to scale up strategies for political resolution of conflicts in the face of mounting fatalities among its personnel.
“Peacekeepers cannot be substitutes for efforts to resolve conflict,” India’s Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin told the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations on Monday.
“This requires sustained political engagement. Such engagement needs to be addressed by the UN leadership at all levels and not by the troops alone.”
Peacekeeping operations now deal with situations within a country, often involving non-state actors rather than conflicts between nations, he pointed out.
“In such circumstances, it is often proposed that a more ‘robust’ UN peacekeeping approach can deliver better,” he said. “With little international investment in conflict resolution, this is tantamount to ‘arming without aiming’.”
Military capabilities and posture alone will not be enough to respond to high-risk environments, he said. “Implementation of ‘robust’ mandates is a much more complex task with serious inherent risks and less than certain outcomes, while possibly impacting the perceived impartiality of the UN.”
As historically the highest contributor of personnel to peacekeeping operations and currently having 6,697 under the UN’s blue flag, India has a special interest in ensuring the safety of peacekeepers at a time of growing attacks on them.
“Tragically, the level of casualties among peacekeepers, in the last five years, is the highest in any five-year period since the UN began keeping the peace,” Akbaruddin said.
“As a country which has sacrificed perhaps the largest number of its nationals in support of international peace and security, we view this with concern.”
India has suffered 163 fatalities since the peacekeeping operations began in 1948, the most by any country.
Between 2013 to 2017, at total of 594 peacekeepers of all nationalities have died in UN operations. Of them, 195 peacekeepers – seven of them Indian – were killed in violent actions.
While the lack of clarity of mandates, inadequate resources for peacekeepers and lack of focus on political solutions in dealing with conflict situations are acknowledged, Akbaruddin said, “a coherent approach to jointly address these continues to elude us, even as we tend to focus on concepts for enhancing efficiency, effecting savings, improving logistics, expanding availability of troops and their rapid deployment.”
General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak said that there should be a “stronger focus” on conflict prevention and it should be approached as comprehensive action involving the entire UN, including peacekeeping, and not isolated in certain forums.
“Our focus is often on Special Political Missions, mediation teams, or the UN’s good offices,” he said. “And peacekeepers play a crucial role. They often work in support of political, or mediation processes. They have key relationships with national actors. They can help to flag early warning signs of conflict.”
“We need a stronger prevention focus throughout all missions,” he added. “This will mean ensuring that they can rapidly deploy, and adapt, in response to warning signs of conflict. It will mean developing tools for conflict mapping and analysis, including at the local-level. And it will mean strengthening capacity for prevention and mediation, across the board.”
(Arul Louis can be reached at [email protected])
–IANS
al/in
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.
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