Mitigating the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is not a simple task.
IEDs are constructed with commercial material purchased in markets and military material that is seized from unsecured stockpiles. They can be designed to be detonated in many ways.
One of the jobs of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is to train peacekeeping contingents to safely find, disarm, and destroy these devices before they harm anyone.
The Government of Bangladesh, as part of its support for United Nations peacekeeping, fabricated and donated 13 IED training aids to the Department of Peace Operations (DPO).
The training aids were made-to-order following an assessment and advisory visit by DPO’s Strategic Force Generation to Bangladesh in 2021.
These training tools were used last month by the UNMAS Mobile Training Team, based in Entebbe, Uganda, to support the United Nations Infantry Battalion Training of Trainers Course in Entebbe.
Twenty-one military officers from nine Member States attended this course. The aids were also used to provide training to UN troops deployed to Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
To mark this generosity an official handover ceremony was held with the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operations Training during the closing ceremony for the 26th International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centre Conference.
The Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army, General S. M. Shafiuddin Ahmed, symbolically gave the training aids to General Birame Diop, the DPO Military Adviser.
Participants at the event included Mark Pederson, Chief of the UN Integrated Training Service, Raymond Kemei from the UNMAS Mobile Training Team in Entebbe, and Rowan Burrows, the Project Manager SSP-IED of the UNMAS Threat Mitigation in MINUSMA.
General Diop thanked Bangladesh for this important contribution and explained how these tools will be used to improve the safety and security of peacekeepers.
