Fiji’s contribution to global peacekeeping is gaining worldwide attention.

So much so that the Ambassador of the People’s Republic China to Fiji, Qian Bo, will open the pre-deployment training (PDT at Blackrock Camp on Tuesday, September 10) for troops earmarked for deployment to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI).

Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) Director Peace Support Operations Colonel Pacolo Luveni said the training would be for six weeks, ending on October 18.

“This peacekeeping mission is currently Fiji’s largest active United Nations mission with approximately 168 men and women deployed there annually,” he said.

The personnel to undergo training, he said, included 15 female soldiers and it highlighted the RFMF’s commitment to engaging more women in peacekeeping operations in line with United Nations policies.

Colonel Luveni said Mr Qian’s involvement in opening the training recognised the participation of Fijian peacekeepers alongside their counterparts from the People’s Liberation Army in South Sudan with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, in Lebanon with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation and formerly with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Apart from serving together in peacekeeping missions, he said, members of the RFMF regularly underwent training in the People’s Republic of China, acquiring skills and knowledge that was not only utilised in the conduct of tasks locally, but also abroad on deployment to peacekeeping missions.

Colonel Luveni said the RFMF, in involving Fiji’s strategic partners, recognised the important role they played in assisting Fiji with preparing troops for the arduous task of peacekeeping.

He said Australia, through the Australian Defence Force, assisted Fiji greatly with the provision of strategic lift aircraft that transported Fiji’s troops to Sinai earlier this year.

Jonathan Curr, the New Zealand High Commissioner to Fiji, officially opened the PDT for troops selected for service with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force earlier this year.

This, he said, highlighted the importance of peacekeeping to not only the RFMF and the Government of Fiji, but also to Fiji’s global defence partners.

He said it showed that peacekeeping was community-based, not only at the tactical and operational level through the engagement of local populations, but also at the strategic level through the assistance provided by the global peacekeeping community.

Edited by Epineri Vula

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