|
French diplomat named new head of UN peacekeeping
2008-06-30
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - French diplomat Alain Le Roy was named Monday to succeed Jean-Marie Guehenno as head of the UN department of peacekeeping operations (DPKO), spokeswoman Michele Montas said. Under Guehenno's leadership, UN peackeeping efforts saw unprecedented expansion, with some 20 separate efforts around the globe involving some 100,000 personnel. Since September Le Roy, 55, has been the ambassador in charge of President Nicolas Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union project aimed at linking Europe with six countries of North Africa. But he is a a seasoned diplomat who cut his teeth in the Balkans, where he was sent to direct the reconstruction of public services in post-war Bosnia, serving as a deputy to the UN secretary general in 1995. In 1999-2000 he was assigned to be administrator to the region of Pec, in western Kosovo, as part of the interim UN administration (1999-2000) there following the ouster of Serbian forces by NATO. The United Nations in May marked the 60th anniversary of its peacekeeping operations, with its overstretched "blue helmets" still in high demand but somewhat tarnished by sex abuse and corruption scandals. The world body does not have its own military force and depends on contributions from member states. As of March, 118 countries contributed military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping. The largest troop contributors are Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Nigeria and Nepal, which together provide more than 40 percent of all blue helmets. The European Union, the United States and Japan are the top financial contributors to the UN peacekeeping budget, which now totals about 7.5 billion dollars a year. UN sources say that not only has the number of peacekeeping missions increased, but they have becoming increasingly complex. Guehenno, 58, paid tribute at May celebrations to the blue helmets' "sacrifice and dedication in pursuit of the noble goals of the United Nations." He noted that 90 peacekeepers died last year, taking the total number of personnel who have died since the first operation was established 60 years ago to more than 2,400.
| 
