Armenia aims to have certified international peacekeeping training center

Yerevan/Mediamax/. Armenia is developing national peacekeeping training capability and wants to certify it as an international peacekeeping training center to make it available for peacekeepers from other countries.

 

Armenian Defense Minister stated this during his address at the UN Peacekeeping Ministerial at New York City.

 

“In the spirit of collective responsibility, Armenia has been increasingly expanding its involvement in UN and UN-mandated peace and stability operations, including through involvement in the UNIFIL and MINUSMA. Armenia is a contributor to the NATO-led missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan. We have also shown consistent commitment to help bring lasting change in areas affected by crisis, as reflected through our most recent deployment of a National humanitarian mission in Syria, comprising medical personnel and demining specialists, in cooperation with our Russian colleagues and in response to the request of the Syrian authorities and Armenian community”, Minister said.

 

“I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm Armenia's continued commitment to contribute to the international efforts in upholding international peace and security and to support to the Secretary General’s reform agenda”, Davit Tonoyan stressed.

 

“We are currently working on building specialized capacities of a Role 2 Field Hospital and EOD Engineering unit with C-IED capabilities to contribute to UN peacekeeping missions, as needed. These pledges have been duly announced and we are looking forward to completion of the relevant verification procedures to officially elevate our capabilities to make them deployable as soon as possible.

 

With the support of our partners, in particular with the United States, we are developing a national peacekeeping training capability to ensure proper training for our troops before their deployment to the peacekeeping missions. The goal is to certify this training capability as an international peacekeeping training center and make it available for peacekeepers from other countries”, Minister said.

 

Davit Tonoyan also informed that Armenian Government adopted the National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325. The document prioritizes enhancement of training and career development possibilities for women with the view to increasing their participation in peacekeeping, as well as peace-building activities.

 

“We already have women deployed to KFOR in Kosovo and Resolute Support in Afghanistan, and more women will soon be deployed to UNIFIL mission during our next rotation cycle in summer 2019 in order to ensure the compliance with the 15% target set by the United Nations”,  Minister said.