A very high powered delegation led by Mr. Jean Pierre Lacroix USG, DPKO, Lieutenant General Carlos Humberrto Loitte, MILAD to USG, Mr. Luis Carrilho, Police Advisor to USG, DPKO and Ms. Alice Kielmann Associate Political Affairs visited CIPS on 02 July 2018. The delegation was received by Pro-Rector P&R NUST, Major General Jahangir Khan (Retd) along with Principal NIPCONS, Major General Mazhar Saleem Khan (Retd).
The delegation was given a comprehensive briefing by the Head of Peacekeeping Training Department in the Board Room.
Thereafter, the delegation witnessed on-going training activities which included post Peacekeeping analysis/ discussion/ feedback by a group of Pakistani Peacekeepers (fighting units and enablers). This deliberation/ discussion is conducted with the objective to record the Best Practices/ lesson Learnt and then dovetailing it as part of the future training program regime. The USG and MILAD interacting with participants, highly appreciated and thanked their contribution to UN Peacekeeping missions and commented that Pakistani Peacekeepers are making a difference and are a role model to the UN Peacekeeping missions. The USG commented that this post-mission analysis is a very positive and knowledgeable activity which must be followed by other Peacekeeping training department/organizations. The delegation then witnessed an ongoing UN Staff Officer Training Course and commended the conduct. Interacting with the participants, the USG said, “Peacekeeping operations are not like before. Now the Peacekeepers have to operate in a very challenging, volatile, and dangerous environment, where they are frequently targeted by the armed groups. There is, therefore, a need to adapt Peacekeepers’ training operations to the evolving challenges.”
The training visit was followed by the participants and media interaction which was held in the Jinnah auditorium. Students of Peace & Conflict Studies (PCS) and Peacekeeping Training Departments (PKT) asked questions on various aspects of Peacekeeping which were comprehensively answered by the USG / panelist.
At the conclusion of the visit the USG gave this statement:-
“Pakistan Army and Armed Forces contribution to our missions is really making a difference. We think it as an outstanding contribution to peace and stability in the world. In many cases, our Peacekeepers make a difference between life and death to vulnerable civilians. We have seen how much Pakistani Peacekeepers were helpful in protecting civilians. We are extremely grateful to Pakistan for its warm welcome and also for Pakistan’s outstanding contribution to UN Peacekeeping. This is it was also an opportunity to paid tribute to the 156 Pakistani Peacekeepers who lose their lives serving the UN. We express special thoughts for them for their memory and also for their families. We also like to extend our gratitude to all the Pakistani Peacekeepers currently serving in our missions as well as to their families. All of them are paying a price for that and we are extremely grateful”.
After the media interaction, the delegation was requested for a group photograph with the entire participants/faculty members of NUST / CIPS. The delegation was finally seen off by Pro-Rector P&R Major General Jahangir Khan (Retd), Major General Mazhar Saleem Khan (Retd), and other members of the Department.