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South Sudan and Somalia get UK peacekeeping force boost

South Sudan and Somalia get UK peacekeeping force boost

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has added an additional hundred troops to its peacekeeping force to support the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Somalia also gets £200 million support and the deployment of 40 troops already on the ground joining the United Nations to support the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). The number is expected to rise to 70.

The deployments were announced by UK’s Defence Secretary Michael Fallon at the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial summit in London on Thursday.

“This large scale deployment underlines how we are stepping up our global commitments. Backed by a rising defence budget, it’s part of our effort to tackle the instability that leads to mass migration and terrorism. It will help keep Britain safe while improving lives abroad,” Fallon said.

The UK force in South Sudan includes two engineer squadron groups working on providing a field hospital to support UN peacekeepers in the country.

About 80 countries are represented at the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial hosted by the UK to discuss peacekeeping commitments.

Representatives from 80 nations are in London today to discuss UN #BetterPeacekeeping https://t.co/T8TzOfTlfQ pic.twitter.com/FbhS97ENiJ

— Ministry of Defence (DefenceHQ) September 8, 2016

The UK’s Minister of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Joyce Anelay, also announced the country’s support for the Kigali Principles to improve the protection of civilians on peacekeeping missions.

“This week’s conference is all about better peacekeeping. Improving peacekeepers’ ability to protect civilians is a vital part of that and the Kigali Principles are designed to help them with this. I am pleased to announce UK support for the Principles as a further demonstration of UK wider commitment to the protection of civilians,” she said ahead of the summit.

Largest ever UNPeacekeeping Defence Ministerial underway in London. #BetterPeacekeeping pic.twitter.com/ArUk766nDJ

— Joyce Anelay (JoyceAnelay) September 8, 2016

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