A signing ceremony held at the United Nations in New York on June 23 formalised the Fijian Government’s peacekeeping arrangements with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

In 2014, Fiji deployed an RFMF infantry company to UNIFIL to serve as UNIFIL’s Multi-Task Protection Force Unit (MTPFU).

The UN was represented at the ceremony by Undersecretary-General Dr Atul Khare, UN Department of Field Support. Fiji was represented by Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Peter Thomson, and Military and Police adviser Colonel Manoa Gadai of the RFMF.

During the UNIFIL MOU signing ceremony, Dr Khare expressed the sincere gratitude of the UN for the dedication and sacrifice displayed by Fiji’s UN peacekeepers, both those currently serving as well, as the many from Fiji who have served in UN peacekeeping operations over the last four decades.

Dr Khare thanked the Government of Fiji for being steadfast in UN peacekeeping in the cause of world peace. He said the provision of the RFMF’s Multi-Task Protection Force Unit for UNIFIL was an important contribution to the UN mandate in Lebanon.

Ambassador Thomson said the signing of the MoU for Fiji’s participation in UNIFIL marked a further milestone in Fiji’s proud history in UN peacekeeping. He too paid tribute to the service of Fiji’s past and present servicemen and servicewomen who had served in the blue helmets and blue berets of UN peacekeeping.

UNIFIL was put in place by the UN Security Council in 1978, with a mandate to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, restore peace and security, and assist the government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.

The RFMF initially deployed to UNIFIL in 1978 with a battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, the former President of Fiji.

The signing of yesterday’s MOU formalises the substantive return of the RFMF to UNIFIL.

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