UN peacekeeping chief welcomes strong support for its far-flung operations despite `headwinds'

The United Nations peacekeeping chief says he was very satisfied with the strong support of many countries for its far-flung operations at a recent ministerial meeting, despite “headwinds and challenges and problems.” Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the undersecretary-general for peace operations, said in an interview with AP that the bi-annual ministerial meeting in Ghana earlier this month was attended by nearly 100 countries. He said 33 countries made pledges of 117 military and police units for the U.N.’s peacekeeping operations – and 45 countries made over 100 pledges related to training peacekeepers and partnerships. The number of U.N. peacekeepers and staff has fallen from over 100,000 worldwide to 70,000.