DHAKA: US President Barack Obama has announced that more than 50 countries have pledged tens of thousands of new personnel to bolster the UN’s overstretched and underequipped peacekeeping operations.

Obama said that about 40,000 new troops and police had been committed to the UN’s blue helmet operations, which increasingly face hardened armed groups, shortages of hardware and have been rocked by sex abuse scandals.

‘Put simply, the supply of well-trained, well-equipped peacekeepers can’t keep up with the growing demand,’ Obama told delegates during a series of meetings at the UN General Assembly in New York.

‘Peacekeepers head into more difficult and deadlier conflicts. They’re given ambitious mandates and charged with increasingly dangerous and complex missions.’

China’s President Xi Jinping made one of the largest pledges, saying his country would establish a permanent 8,000-strong quick deployment force to respond to global crises and offered $100m to fund a similar scheme under the African Union.

Xi also said China would offer helicopters, other equipment and provide funding, training and hardware for 10 mine-clearing schemes. Britain committed 250 to 300 troops to the UN mission in South Sudan.

BDST: 1155 HRS, SEPT 29, 2015
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