Antara News, Thu, March 24 2011
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Alain Le Roy said Indonesia`s initiative as hub of peacekeeping training centers in the region was welcomed.
"This is an important initiative," he told ANTARA in an interview at the Jakarta-based UN Information Center on Thursday.
With Indonesia`s high credibility in various UN peacekeeping missions, the peacekeeping training center would be good for peacekeepers from Indonesia and other countries in the region, he said.
Le Roy was asked to comment on the Indonesian government`s effort to enable the country to become a hub of peacekeeping centers in the region this year as recently conveyed by Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.
In his annual press statement last January, Marty Natalegawa hinted the Indonesian government`s will to be the hub of peacekeeping centers in the region as part of its commitment to maintaining world`s peace.
"In the issue of peacekeeping operations, Indonesia actively contributes to the development of strategic concepts on the world`s peacekeeping mission deployment," he said.
In connection with this commitment, Indonesia would do its best to become the hub of the network of peacekeeping centers in the region, Marty Natalegawa said.
Alain Le Roy praised Indonesian peacekeepers` performance saying that the Indonesian Defense Force (TNI) and National Police (Polri) personnel involving in the UN-PKO were well trained and professional.
However, for the future missions, he also urged Indonesia to involve police women because there were always women among displaced people in the UN mission areas.
Le Roy said Indonesia could possibly involve its well-trained police women into the UN peacekeeping operations in the future due to the country`s excellent performance in various UN missions.
Indonesia was currently taking part in three UN peacekeeping missions, namely the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Congo, and Darfur in Sudan, he said.
The Indonesian battalion in UNIFIL consisted of around 1,400 personnel while, for the Darfur mission, it deployed a dozen of police officers to help protect displaced civilians there, he said.
"They are very professional policemen," Le Roy said.
Regarding the increasing demand of women peacekeepers in the UN missions, the UN highlighted such roles that they could play during the peacekeeping operations, such as "interviewing victims of sexual and gender-based violence, working in women prisons, assisting female ex-combatants during the process of mobilizing and reintegration into civilian life and mentoring female cadets at police academies".
By deploying 1,795 personnel, Indonesia is one of 20 top contributors of uninformed personnel to the UN-PKO.
Nineteen other contributing countries are Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nigeria, Egypt, Nepal, Jordan, Rwanda, Ghana, Uruguay, Senegal, Ethiopia, Brazil, South Africa, China, Italy, Morocco, France, and Sri Lanka.
Alain Le Roy has been in Jakarta since Tuesday to participate in the Jakarta International Defense Dialogue (JIDD) and meet with a number of top government officials and chiefs of the Indonesian military and police.
The JIDD itself was officially opened by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday.
Le Roy said he would speak at the forum, attended by representatives from 34 countries involving defense ministers and military commanders, on Friday.
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
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