Ghana’s Police Service has served notice it will dismiss any of its personnel accused of sexual exploitation in South Sudan if found guilty after investigations. The Service says it has written to the UN to grant it permission to send a team from Ghana to South Sudan to have firsthand information about the sexual scandal … Read more
The Ghana Police Service has requested the United Nations to permit a three-member team to be immediately deployed to Wau in South Sudan “for a better understanding” of sexual abuse and exploitation claims against its peacekeeping officers. A preliminary investigative report by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) cites Ghana’s Formed Police Unit … Read more
The United Nations has appointed a former National Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation of Ghana to head the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). UNDOF ‘s mandate is to maintain ceasefire between Israel and Syria; Supervise the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces; and Supervise the areas of separation and limitation, as provided in … Read more
A reduction in fighting in Sudan’s Darfur, where a brutal conflict has killed thousands, prompted the UN to downsize the number of peacekeepers deployed there, a top UN official said Thursday. In June, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that will cut the number of troops and police serving in the joint African … Read more
Five UN peacekeepers’ bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo are to close at the end of July, the UN mission there announced Wednesday, describing it as a change in operational style. But the closures come against the background of cuts to the overall peacekeeping budget pushed through under pressure from the United States. The … Read more
DR Congo must identify both senior army personnel and politicians behind the massacres in the volatile Kasai region, a top UN human rights official told AFP Thursday. Jose-Maria Aranaz, the UN human rights director in the country, was speaking just a day the UN said another 38 suspected mass graves had been discovered in this … Read more
The Ghana Police Service is striving to actualise its vision of becoming a world-class police service, Mr David Asante-Apeatu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has said. He said the Service aimed at delivering planned, democratic, protective and peaceful services up to the standards of international best practices. Mr Asante-Apeatu said this at the end … Read more
The United Nations on Friday approved a nearly $600 million cut to its peacekeeping budget following pressure from the United States to reduce funding to the world body. The General Assembly approved by consensus the annual budget expected to total $7.3 billion, down from the current $7.87 billion spent on peace missions worldwide. UN member-states … Read more
A deal on cutting nearly $600 million from the UN peacekeeping budget was reached Wednesday following weeks of negotiations over US demands for sharp cost reductions, UN diplomats said. Under the deal reached by a General Assembly budget committee, the United Nations will spend $7.3 billion on peacekeeping in the coming year, down from the … Read more
A tentative deal on nearly $600 million in cuts to the UN peacekeeping budget has been reached following weeks of tough negotiations over US demands for a sharp cost reduction, a Security Council diplomat said Wednesday. The United Nations will spend $7.3 billion on peacekeeping in the coming year, down from the current $7.87 billion, … Read more
About 600 troops from Congo Republic serving as UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic will be returning home following allegations of sex abuse, the United Nations announced on Wednesday. President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s government “decided to withdraw” the troops deployed in the MINUSCA mission after the commander complained of misconduct, a UN statement said. … Read more
About 600 troops from Congo Republic serving as UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic will be returning home following allegations of sex abuse, the United Nations announced on Wednesday. President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s government “decided to withdraw” the troops deployed in the MINUSCA mission after the commander complained of misconduct, a UN statement said. … Read more
More than 600 troops from Congo Republic serving as UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic will be returning home following allegations of sex abuse and other misconduct, UN officials said Monday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will announce the withdrawal Tuesday during a news conference at the United Nations, officials told AFP. The decision … Read more
The UN force commander in the Central African Republic is calling for hundreds of peacekeepers from Congo Republic to be sent home for sexual abuse, fuel trafficking and poor discipline, according to a confidential memo released Tuesday. Lieutenant-General Balla Keita said Congo should “commit itself to improving without delay the standard of its unit” or … Read more
United Nations (UN) peacekeeping remains relevant, but the UN should do more to end sexual exploitation by some peacekeepers around the world by reducing the period of each tour to four months rather than one year, security analyst Irbard Ibrahim has said. In a statement to mark International Peacekeeping Day on Monday, 29 May, he … Read more
The United Nations has posthumously conferred its highest awards, the Dag Hammarskjold Medals on two Ghanaian Peacekeepers who paid the ultimate sacrifice in their line of duty. They are: Lance Cpl. Emmanuel Sakyi, who was with the UN Organisational Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) and Staff Sergeant Boniface Atanyik, formerly with … Read more
Two fallen peacekeepers from Ghana will be honoured at the United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday, 24 May, to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will lay a wreath to honour all fallen peacekeepers and will preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to … Read more
A 10-day training programme designed to prepare military officers from 21 nations across Africa and Europe to respond properly to regional crisis has opened in Accra. Dubbed the “United Accord Exercise,” the training programme is also expected to strengthen coordination among United Nations (UN) peacekeeping nations in the provision of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief … Read more
A rapid intervention force of Senegalese troops will soon be deployed in central Mali, which has seen an increase in jihadist attacks and communal violence since 2015, the new UN peacekeeping chief said. “We are awaiting the upcoming deployment in the centre (of Mali), by Senegal, of a rapid intervention force to deal with the … Read more
Another UN peacekeeper has been found dead in the Central African Republic, bringing to five the toll from an attack this week, the deadliest to target the mission so far, the UN spokesman said Thursday. Suspected anti-Balaka Christian militias attacked the UN convoy of the MINUSCA force on Monday in the southeast of the country … Read more