About ‘Group of Friends’ to Promote Accountability for Crimes Against Peacekeepers:
- It will seek to facilitate the promotion of accountability for all acts of violence against United Nations (UN) peacekeepers and seek facilitation of capacity building and technical assistance to the host state authorities. It was launched in 2022.
- It comprises of 40 member states. India, Bangladesh, Egypt, France, Morocco and Nepal are co-chairs.
- It will actively engage and share information with the UN Secretary-General and assist the member states hosting or those who have hosted peacekeeping operations, in bringing to justice the perpetrators of such acts; serve as an informal platform at the UN to exchange information, share best practices and mobilize resources directed at facilitating accountability for crimes committed against peacekeepers; and monitor progress on bringing accountability for crimes against peacekeepers.
- It will convene two meetings of its members per year, organise and host one event per year involving Permanent Missions and other stakeholders, to take the plan forward, thereby ensuring greater safety and security for peacekeepers.
- Group of Friends represents the "political will" of member states, particularly of the troop and police contributing countries, to champion the implementation of the provisions of U.N. Security Council resolution 2589, which was adopted in August 2021 under India’s Presidency of the Council.
- Resolution 2589had called upon member states, hosting or having hosted UN peacekeeping operations, to take all appropriate measures to bring to justice perpetrators of the killing of and all acts of violence against UN personnel, including, but not limited to, their detention and abduction.
India and UN Peacekeeping:
- India is the largest cumulative contributor of peacekeepers to the UN, having deployed more than 2,60,000 peacekeepers over the last seven decades.
- India has lost 177 of its peacekeepers in the line of duty, the largest by far from any troop-contributing country.
- With more than 6000 peacekeepers deployed in nine out of twelve peacekeeping missions, India is a strong proponent of accountability for crimes against peacekeepers.
