Re: Peacekeeping

by **Spider** Wed 19 Feb 2020, 8:16 am

Canada nearly lost 2018 UN mission because it
didn't have enough women in uniform

Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Feb 19, 2020

Peacekeeping - Page 3 Military-women-20200122

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-un-united-nations-sudan-women-soldiers-1.5467722

by **Spider** Fri 22 May 2020, 8:03 am

Canadian peacekeeping levels hit lowest level in more than 60 years

The Canadian Press
Lee Berthiaume
May 22, 2020

Peacekeeping - Page 3 Jco504-the-canadian-press-2

https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/canada-news-pmn/canadian-peacekeeping-levels-hit-lowest-level-in-more-than-60-years-2

by **Luxray** Fri 29 May 2020, 8:55 pm

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers - May 29, 2020

by **Starman** Sun 02 Aug 2020, 8:30 pm

Peacekeeping - Page 3 5f27379c023d167e1d8b6789jpeg

Canada extends peacekeeping mission despite Security Council loss

Aug 2, 2020

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2020/08/02/canada-extends-peacekeeping-mission-despite-security-council-loss/

by **Kizzer** Sun 09 Aug 2020, 5:14 pm

National Peacekeepers' Day

Peacekeeping - Page 3 Peacekeepers-1185x320

Veterans and Canadian Armed Forces personnel who have served in various peace support efforts will gather at events across the country to honour their comrades. A national ceremony is held each year in Ottawa at the Peacekeeping Monument on the Sunday closest to August 9. It is organized by the local chapter of the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping, the Canadian Armed Forces, Veterans Affairs Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/canadian-armed-forces/peacekeeping

Statement marking National Peacekeepers’ Day

August 9, 2020

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2020/08/statement-marking-national-peacekeepers-day.html

Statement by the Prime Minister on National Peacekeepers’ Day
August 9, 2020
Ottawa, Ontario

https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2020/08/09/statement-prime-minister-national-peacekeepers-day

National Peacekeepers Day
AUGUST 9, 2020
Canada recognizes its contribution to global peace initiatives on August 9, National Peacekeepers Day. Recognize this important Canadian Forces role by hosting a Memory Project speaker.

http://www.thememoryproject.com/events/103:national-peacekeepers-day

by **Kizzer** Sun 09 Aug 2020, 5:16 pm

08.09.2020

by **SniperGod** Mon 10 Aug 2020, 7:50 am

Our Community: Flyby over Victoria a salute to peacekeepers

AUGUST 9, 2020

Peacekeeping - Page 3 08082020-buffalo-jpg

https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/our-community-flyby-over-victoria-a-salute-to-peacekeepers-1.24183411

by Lucifer Sun 13 Dec 2020, 7:29 pm

Twenty-five years after Rwanda, where is Canada on peacekeeping?

Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020

A Canadian peacekeeper watches a group of Rwandan refugees in Kigali, Rwanda, in this August 1994 photo.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/twenty-five-years-after-rwanda-where-is-canada-on-peacekeeping-1.5229260

by Firefox Sun 08 Aug 2021, 9:43 pm

Peacekeepers’ Day remembers those who paid the ultimate sacrifice

Published Sunday, August 8, 2021

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/peacekeepers-day-remembers-those-who-paid-the-ultimate-sacrifice-1.5539269

by Jackson Mon 09 Aug 2021, 4:49 pm

09.08.2021

by **Forcell** Fri 12 Nov 2021, 11:27 am

Former peacekeeper recalls Canada’s ‘forgotten battle’ in former Yugoslavia

By Kylie Stanton & Simon Little . Global News
Posted November 11, 2021

Global News

by **Forcell** Tue 30 Nov 2021, 9:12 am

U.S. presses Canada to make good on promised 200-soldier peacekeeping force

Lee Berthiaume · The Canadian Press · Posted: Nov 29, 2021

Peacekeeping - Page 3 Un-peacekeeping-canada-mali

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/biden-presses-canada-for-peaekeepers-1.6267014

by **Forcell** Wed 08 Dec 2021, 11:09 am

Canada cuts more cheques for UN peacekeeping, says nothing about troop commitment

Murray Brewster · CBC News · Posted: Dec 07, 2021

Peacekeeping - Page 3 Peacekeeping-women-20180222

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-united-nations-peacekeeping-1.6277189

by Covert Fri 10 Dec 2021, 6:40 am

Trudeau’s 2017 promise to commit troops to UN goes unfilled despite U.S. pressure

Dec 08, 2021

OTTAWA — Canada emerged from a high-profile peacekeeping summit in South Korea this week having pledged tens of millions of dollars in new funds to help the United Nations execute its missions around the world.

Yet notably absent was any commitment of new troops and equipment to the UN, or any mention of Canada’s past promise to provide a 200-soldier quick reaction force to peacekeeping, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first promised in November 2017.

That was despite pressure from the U.S. to make good on that previous pledge and arrive in Seoul with plans to promise much-needed medical personnel and drones to peacekeeping.

Experts say Canada’s commitment of $85 million over three years to various peacekeeping efforts is a sizable pledge compared to the amount of cash promised by other countries.

Yet they also suggest the lack of troops and equipment has all but stamped out any hope the Liberal government will make good on its previous promises to re-engage in peacekeeping, and will hurt Canada’s credibility on the issue for the foreseeable future.

“I’m hoping that there might be some spark that will cause Canada to live up to its promises and to its status as a prolific peacekeeper,” said Canadian Forces College professor Walter Dorn, one of Canada’s leading experts on peacekeeping.

“But in the near term, the prospects for Canadian re-engagement and peacekeeping are dead.”

Defence Minister Anita Anand spoke on Canada’s behalf during the two-day peacekeeping conference, which was originally supposed to be held in person but moved online amid concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

During her short remarks, Anand pledged $70 million over three years for a special UN fund created to assist peace talks as well as tangible peacebuilding efforts such as conflict-resolution efforts, and empowering women and youth in public life.

Richard Gowan, who serves as UN director for the International Crisis Group, an independent organization, said Canada’s financial contribution to the fund is relatively generous compared to the pledges from other participating countries at the summit.

“The peacebuilding fund, the whole idea is that it’s there to sort of put money quickly into peace processes,” he said. “And so the UN will make pretty good use of that $70 million.”

Canada will provide another $15 million to help the UN increase the number of women on peacekeeping missions, prevent the use of child soldiers in conflict, and improve the online and medical training of blue helmets.

Yet Dorn accused the Liberal government of hypocrisy by throwing money at the UN to do things like get more women into the field while the number of Canadian peacekeepers remains near historically low levels.

Canada had 58 police and military personnel deployed as peacekeepers at the end of October, according to the UN. While that was up from the record low of 34 in August 2020, it was still less than half the number when the Liberals took power in 2015.

While the Liberal government has previously said it had given itself five years to produce the quick reaction force, Global Affairs Canada had more recently stated: “Since this pledge was made, global dynamics as well as UN needs have continued to change and evolve.”

That has led to speculation the unit will not be provided, even though the UN recently said it needed five such quick-reaction forces.

Meanwhile, Gowan noted several European countries such as Germany and Denmark stepped up in South Korea with pledges of helicopters and other state-of-the-art military assets. He believed Canada’s failure to do the same marks the end of an era.

“This draws a line once and for all under the idea of Canada sort of making more serious military contributions to UN operations in the near future,” he said.

Gowan didn’t believe Canada’s failure to make any new pledges or provide clarity on its plans for the quick reaction force will anger the U.S.

But he said it will be noted by the UN, and will make it harder for Canada to lecture other countries on the need to protect civilians, eliminate sexual misconduct and deploy more women.

“Each time a Western diplomat, and not only a Canadian, stands up and starts lecturing non-Western diplomats about sexual abuse by their peacekeepers or the need for their peacekeepers to take more risks to protect civilians the question always just comes back: ‘Where are your guys now?”‘ Gowan said.

“That’s a general rhetorical question, which they would ask anyway. But there’s now a very specific 200-Canadian-soldier-shaped-hole in the UN’s deployment map.”

NATIONAL POST

by **Terminator** Thu 16 Dec 2021, 3:39 pm

Canada’s 200-soldier promise to UN peacekeeping ‘under discussion’: Minister

By Lee Berthiaume . The Canadian Press
Posted December 16, 2021

Defence Minister Anita Anand says while the Liberal government’s promise to provide a 200-soldier force to United Nations peacekeeping “is not off the table,” it is being considered alongside Canada’s many other international priorities.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first pledged the quick reaction force to a future UN mission while hosting an international peacekeeping summit in Vancouver in 2017, yet the Liberal government has yet to make good on the promise.

That is despite the UN having said it needs such forces now, and the U.S. having asked Canada last month to fulfil its commitment.

Washington’s request came ahead of a follow-up summit in South Korea, where countries were asked to provide new commitments to fill gaps in both funding and peacekeeping missions in the field in Africa and elsewhere..

While Anand made no mention of the quick reaction force while attending the Seoul summit online on Dec. 2, the minister told The Canadian Press in an interview this week that the promise has not been abandoned — at least not yet.

“It is not off the table, but it is something that is still under discussion,” she said.

The minister indicated those discussions involve considering not only Canada’s commitment to the UN, but also its promises to the NATO military alliance and support to countries such as Ukraine, where Canada has 200 military trainers.

Anand did not offer a timeline on a decision, but the UN recently said it currently needs five quick-reaction forces to help provide security to peacekeeping missions in Africa and elsewhere.

The Liberal government previously said it had given itself five years to produce the quick reaction force.

The U.S. had also asked Canada to come to the South Korea summit with plans to pledge drones and medical units for peacekeeping. The request was in a letter sent to Global Affairs Canada, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press.

Yet Anand did not make any new commitment of Canadian troops or military equipment, and instead pledged $85 million — money that experts have acknowledged represents a significant financial commitment compared to other countries.

Asked about the lack of new troop commitments, despite the U.S. request and the UN’s needs, Anand indicated the discussions around the quick reaction force applied to Canada’s overall involvement in peacekeeping.

“Our commitment of 200-plus trainers on the ground is extremely important for the ability of the West as a whole to have a presence in (Ukraine) in terms of protecting peace and democracy and upholding a stable government there,” she said.

“We will continue to respect our relationships and allegiances with the United Nations and with NATO and our multilateral alliances. And so peacekeeping is part of that.”

Experts have suggested the lack of troops pledged at the South Korea summit has all but stamped out any hope the Liberals will make good their previous promises to re-engage in peacekeeping.

They have also warned it will hurt Canada’s credibility on the issue for the foreseeable future.

Canada had 58 police and military personnel deployed as peacekeepers at the end of October, according to the UN. While that was up from the record low of 34 in August 2020, it was still less than half the number when the Liberals took power in 2015.

Global News

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