Head of the Defense Ministry Public Communication Center Brig Gen Hartind Asrin said in Jakarta Tuesday that the UN secretary general flanked by his wife Ban Soon Taek and a number of UN officials on Tuesday will visit the TNI Peace Keeping Mission Education and Training Facility (Fasdiklat PMPP TNI) on the sidelines of his 3-day visit to Indonesia from March 19 to 21, 2012.
He will also deliver a general lecture on "United Nations Peace Keeping Challenge and Opportunities".
The visit of Ban Ki Moon and entourage at the biggest education and training center in South East Asia was personally welcomed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and the relevant cabinet ministers including Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgianto at the Holding Auditorium of PMPP TNI.
Besides making preparations on world peace forces, Ban Ki Moon also planned to plant a tree with the Indonesian Head of State at the Peace Keeping Center.
Hartin said Ban Ki Moon is also slated to attend the opening and deliver a keynote address at the Jakarta International Defense Dialog II on Wednesday (Mar 21) at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).
He said the presence of the UN secretary and entourage at the Pasdiklat PMPP TNI will provide direct information on the latest development of UN Peacekeeping Operations and witness the Indonesian government`s preparations in boosting the quality of the peacekeepers.
Earlier, the relations between Indonesia and the UN had also been touched including efforts at increasing Indonesian forces in the UN peacekeeping mission.
According to data of January 2012 collected by the Indonesian Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, the Indonesian peacekeeping forces totaled 1,972 military and police personnel, including 19 female members.
Nearly 2,000 members of the Indonesian forces have been spread and grouped in six UN peacekeeping missions, namely 1,455 in UNIFIL (in Lebanon), 192 in MONUSCO (Democratic Republic of Congo), 170 in MINUSTAH (Haiti), 146 in UNAMID (Darfur), 8 in UNMIS (South Sudan) and one in UNMIL (Liberia).(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
