Ghana has received plaudits for playing a significant role in global peacekeeping operations with exemplary track record of excellence. Mr Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the Under Secretary-General in charge of Peace Operations, United Nations (UN), gave the commendations during the opening ceremony of the 75th UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference in Accra on Wednesday. Ghana is the sixth largest contributor of UN troops and police to peacekeeping missions as well as an elected member of the Security Council. 'Ghana's peacekeepers have an exemplary track record, and it is one of the few troop-contributing countries that has met our uniformed gender parity targets for troops, police and staff officers,' he said. Mr Lacroix, therefore, applauded the country for playing a significant role in maintaining international peace and security. Over the last 75 years, UN peacekeepers had saved and improved lives in the world's most fragile political and security situations and worked in difficult, and often very dangerous conditions to achieve extraordinary outcomes for the communities they served. 'The contribution of the two million women and men who have served since the first peacekeeping mission was deployed in 1948 is immense,' he said. 'They have helped many countries successfully navigate the difficult path from war to peace, from Liberia and Namibia, to Cambodia, Sierra Leone, Timor Leste and many other countries.' 'Our operations have an exceptionally strong record of preventing and reducing violence as well as preventing repeat wars from recurring.' The UN Under Secretary-General said peacekeeping operations continued to preserve ceasefires, protect civilians, mediate local conflicts and strengthen institutions. 'We are all exceptionally proud of peacekeepers' personal sacrifice and achievements in extremely challenging situations and conditions,' Mr Lacroix said. 'I would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest thanks to all the troop and police contributors with us today.' He paid a glowing t ribute to the memory of all peacekeepers who had sacrificed their lives, particularly the 311 who died in the service of peace in Mali, including 174 who died in hostile acts. 'The ultimate objective of peacekeeping is to help resolve conflict by supporting parties to secure and implement peace agreements and related political processes.' 'Its success, in this regard, over its 75-year history should not be forgotten in the fog of war that continues to ravage the world's most fragile nations and populations,' Mr Lacroix said amid thunderous applause from the audience. He acknowledged that peacekeeping was not a magic wand, which could not succeed alone and, thus, called for political will and commitment from the UN Member States to achieve its core objectives. 'Securing sustainable peace requires the political will, active and united engagement of United Nations member states,' he stressed. 'At this Peacekeeping Ministerial, I look to all of you to provide a political recommitment to UN Peacekeeping. We a re also grateful to Member States for demonstrating their commitment through new pledges.' That, he believed, would help the UN to meet current and future challenges as well as expanding its partnerships on capacity-building, training, and equipping. There are over 70,000 civilian, military and police personnel deployed in 12 missions, with the mission in Mali about to complete its drawdown by the end of the year. The challenges peacekeeping missions faced were greater than ever with increasing division among Member States, thus, weakening its collective capacity to support political and peace processes, the Un Under Secretary-General said. 'Peacekeepers are facing terrorists, criminals, armed groups, and their allies, who have access to powerful modern weapons, and a vested interest in perpetuating the chaos in which they thrive.' 'Missions are also facing growing threats from the weaponization of digital tools, with hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation rife, undermining our efforts, and fuel ing violence against our personnel, partners, and communities.' 'Further complicating this is the fact that most peacekeeping operations, particularly our large, so-called multidimensional missions in Africa, have long been affected by a discrepancy between their capacities and what is demanded of them by the Security Council and host countries. Financial resources are often inadequate for their mandated tasks.' 'For example, the $5.5 billion budget for peacekeeping operations worldwide is less than the New York Police Department's $6.1 billion budget, even though we have 30,000 more personnel.' The UN Peacekeeping budget comprised just 0.3 per cent of global military spending, Mr Lacroix stated, noting that: 'Our peacekeepers are saving countless lives for a relatively small investment. It is cost effective. But for our missions to enable countries to reach a durable peace, we need your full support'. Since its inception, peacekeeping has evolved to adapt to the changing needs on the ground and continue to save lives. The 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference in Accra, Ghana, is the first-ever to be hosted in Africa and will enable the Member States to collectively take stock of its peacekeeping operations and implement the Secretary-General's Action for Peacekeeping initiative. More than 600 delegates, including Foreign and Defense Ministers, academia and journalists across the globe are attending. Source: Ghana News Agency