Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ MP and Defense Minister N.Enkhbold is taking part in 2019 Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference, being held today, March 29, at the UN Headquarters in New York.

On the sidelines of his attendance in the conference, Defense Minister N.Enkhbold held meetings with Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres and Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, exchanging views on certain issues including future prospects and possibilities of Mongolia’s participation in peacekeeping operations.  

Praising skills of Mongolian peacekeepers, Mr. Antonio Guterres expressed his support for Minister N. Enkhbold’s proposal on sending more specialized military personnel and facilities to peacekeeping operations. He also suggested the Minister to study about triple relations and cooperation that target to resolve Mongolia’s limited potential of military equipment and facilities and financial issues with support of other donor countries.    

Mongolia first joined United Nations peacekeeping in 2002 with the deployment of two military observers to the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. Since then, more than 11,000 Mongolian peacekeepers have served in UN missions around the world.

Today, Mongolia deploys nearly 900 peacekeepers to five UN peacekeeping operations – in South Sudan, Abyei, Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Western Sahara.  Mongolia has risen to become the 27th largest contributor to UN peacekeeping.

Moreover, Minister N.Enkhbold met with the Minister of National Defense of Canada and Vice Defense Minister of Vietnam respectively, exchanging views on bilateral cooperation in defense sector.

Published Date:2019-04-01