It will be the first time the two-day meeting, slated for December 5 and 6, this year, will be hosted in Africa but it will be the fifth UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, together with senior officials from the UN Secretariat, announced the date for the 2023 UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting at a joint press conference in New York, the United States of America (USA).

Ghana is currently serving out the second of its two-year term on the Security Council as a non-permanent member, having assumed its membership in November 2022, as the Chairman of the Council.

Meeting

UN Peacekeeping is a global partnership with peacekeepers from over 120 countries deployed in some of the most challenging places in the world to help save lives, prevent conflicts, and create conditions for lasting peace.

The meeting, which brings together foreign and defence ministers, focuses on securing concrete commitments from member states to fill critical gaps, leverage new technologies and address key priorities to improve the operational effectiveness of peacekeeping missions.

With missions navigating unprecedented challenges and threats, this year’s event is expected to focus on critical issues such as the protection of civilians, strategic communications and addressing misinformation and disinformation, safety and security, the mental health of uniformed peacekeepers and the pivotal role of women in peacekeeping.

Secretary-General’s initiatives

Ms Botchwey said the meeting would provide an opportunity to explore ways by which member states could generate high-performing and specialised capabilities and other pledges that met UN needs, as well as new or expanded, sustainable capacity-building training and equipping partnerships in key areas.

“As a long-standing troop- and police-contributing country to UN Peacekeeping since the 1960s, Ghana acknowledges the long and positive track record of peacekeeping in Africa and believes that UN Peacekeeping has a future and remains indispensable and invaluable in advancing peace in conflict settings globally," she said.

The minister said it was, therefore, pertinent that the world remained resolute in its commitment to guarding jealously the multilateral tool and fully support the UN Secretary-General’s initiatives such as the Action for Peacekeeping and Action for Peacekeeping-Plus, which were essential to improve the effectiveness of modern-day peacekeeping and tackle the security challenges of recent time.

Contribution of Ghana, Africa

The Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations of the UN, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, said the 2023 ministerial meeting was an important opportunity for leaders to reaffirm their commitment and make pledges to UN Peacekeeping.

UN Peacekeeping, he said, remained one of the most significant multilateral tools to achieve sustainable peace and development.

"We are grateful to Ghana for hosting this Ministerial meeting and for their critical contributions to strengthening our operations,” he said.

Member states were also encouraged to create or strengthen bilateral and triangular support and partnerships to ensure that proposed improvements were sustainable and had the required impact.