Kathmandu, June 29
Nepal has climbed to the third position on the list of the countries contributing the largest number of peacekeeping troops to the United Nations.
Nepal is only behind Bangladesh and Ethiopia in this respect.
Nepali Army spokesperson Santosh Ballav Pouyal says 5,154 Nepali ‘blue helmets’ are mobilised in 12 peacekeeping missions in various conflict-hit countries of the world currently. Of them, 176 are women.
Likewise, 1,550 Nepali women soldiers have served the UN peacekeeping missions before this.
In total, 122 countries are contributing their troops to peacekeeping missions at the call of the United Nations.
“The ranking changes due to the reduction in the number of troops contributed to UN peacekeeping missions by other countries and the increase of our troops. At present, the number of troops from Rwanda has decreased and we have climbed to the third position from the fourth,” the army spokesperson says, adding that the United Nations has asked for additional 450 soldiers from Nepal.
The NA has already expressed commitments to sending up to 10,000 soldiers to the peacekeeping missions if required and demanded by the UN.
