Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia aims to become one of the top ten contributors of personnel to the UN peacekeeping force, asserted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"Indonesia is now ranked 17th with 1,815 personnel," he stated here on Wednesday.

Most of the Indonesian peacekeepers are currently serving under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The President believes that Indonesia can soon achieve the target of being one of the top ten contributors of personnel to the UN peacekeeping force.

To achieve the target, Indonesia must send more than four thousand personnel to serve under the UN peacekeeping forces, he explained.

Indonesia is among the 120 countries, which are providing nearly 120 thousand peacekeepers worldwide.

The country firstly contributed peacekeepers to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 1956, and has since then sent more than 25 thousand personnel to various conflict areas, such as Bosnia, Cambodia, and Somalia.

According to the UN report, Bangladesh currently tops the list of contributors of personnel to the UN peacekeeping force, with 8,316.

This is followed by Pakistan with 8,250 personnel, India with 7,848 personnel, Ethiopia with 6,534 personnel, and Nigeria with 4,949 personnel.

The other top ten contributors of personnel to the UN mission are Rwanda with 4,683 personnel, Nepal with 4,553 personnel, Jordan with 3,381 personnel, Ghana with 2,907 personnel, and Egypt with 2865 personnel.

(S012/INE/B003)
Reporting by Muhammad Razi Rahman
EDITED BY INE
(KR-BSR/B003)

Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2014