The Secretary-General welcomes the pledges and commitments made at the United Nations Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial in London today. He expresses his gratitude to the United Kingdom for hosting this important event, which built on the historic 2015 Leaders’ Summit on Peacekeeping. The Secretary-General is particularly encouraged by the pledges related to rapid deployment, including commitments by Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to maintain units at a high level of readiness.

The Secretary-General reaffirms the UN’s commitment to work with troop- and police-contributing countries in continuing to improve the performance of UN peacekeepers, including through the full implementation of the Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy regarding sexual exploitation and abuse. He applauds the strong focus of the Ministerial on women and peacekeeping. He congratulates Major Aichatou Ousmane Issaka of Niger, who received the first UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.