KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia remains committed to United Nations peacekeeping missions, including through capacity-building, specialised training and the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister said this was expressed during his meeting with the UN under-secretary-general for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who is currently in Malaysia as part of a regional visit to Asia.
“In the meeting, the UN expressed appreciation for Malaysia’s active role in peacekeeping missions,” he said.
More than 40,000 personnel have been involved in over 38 missions worldwide since 1960, the minister said.
Mohamed Khaled said discussions also focused on the role and contributions that Malaysia could make towards the future direction of UN peacekeeping operations.
This is in line with the country’s pledge in organising training and capacity development, particularly in the areas of explosive ordnance disposal and mobile training teams, he added.
He said Malaysia is also committed to ensuring that the Malaysian Peacekeeping Centre continues to serve as a UN-accredited training centre for various programmes and capacity-development activities, while further strengthening the country’s commitment to the WPS agenda.
“I also stressed the importance of ensuring the safety and welfare of the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) 850-13 personnel in southern Lebanon continue to receive serious attention from the UN.
“This is in addition to ensuring the withdrawal process of the final Malbatt 850-13 battalion under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) mission is carried out properly and systematically,” said Mohamed Khaled.
Also present at the meeting were Defence Force chief Jen Datuk Seri Malek Razak Sulaiman and Joint Forces Commander Lt-Jen Datuk Tengku Muhammad Fauzi Tengku Ibrahim.
