India shipped out two lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines last week to inoculate UN Peace Keepers serving in peacekeeping missions across the world.
AstraZeneca vaccines left Mumbai on March 27, 2021, for the Danish capital of Copenhagen. The vaccines are stored here and distributed to UN peacekeepers serving in various missions.
UN thanks India for the gesture
Lauding India as “a longstanding and steadfast supporter of peacekeeping”, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said that the United Nations gave key priority for providing Covid 19 vaccination to all peacekeepers to protect the personnel and their capacity to continue their crucial work. He also thanked the Government and people of India for their generous donation to safeguard peacekeeping personnel and “enable them to continue their life-saving work in a safe manner.
Vaccinating peacekeepers
Head of United Nations Operational Support Atul Khare noted that India’s important donation will ensure that UN peacekeepers remain healthy. The Covid 19 vaccines will also help the peace keepers “deliver in some of the most difficult environments in the world without relying on already stretched national health systems or ongoing COVAX efforts.
“We thank India… (and) remain engaged with our troop and police contributing countries to ensure that wherever possible, uniformed personnel are vaccinated through their national systems prior to deployment.” Atul Khare said.
Support
UN Operational Support is leading UN system-wide arrangements to support national efforts in vaccinating UN civilian personnel and family members. India has long played an important role in peacekeeping, particularly though its contribution of troops. At present, more than 95,000 UN peacekeepers are deployed in 12 missions. Meanwhile, the UN Resident Coordinator in India, Renata Desalien thanked India for its “generous gesture of solidarity and support”. “This step, especially for the United Nations, reflects India’s strong commitment to global peace and multilateralism”, she said.
