United States President Barack Obama on Monday announced that more than 50 countries have committed 30,000 new United Nations Peacekeeping troops.
"At this summit, more than 50 countries - from Bangladesh to Colombia, from Finland to China - are making commitments totaling more than 30,000 new troops and police," Obama said in his speech at U.N. Peacekeeping Summit in New York, according to a White House statement.
Obama made the announcement at a summit of world leaders to earn more support for U.N. peacekeeping missions, reported Itv. U.S. remains largest contributor of U.N. peacekeeping missions deployed around the world.
China's President Xi Jinping, in his address at the Summit, announced formation of an 8,000 member standby peacekeeping force, according to Xinhua. He also announced $100 million military aid for the African Union to support the establishment of the African Standby Force.
The U.S. President also pointed out some appalling cases of peacekeepers abusing civilians, including rape and sexual assault, saying that abuse by peacekeepers has to end.
"I want to be very clear - the overwhelming number of peacekeepers serve with honor and decency in extraordinarily difficult situations. But we have seen some appalling cases of peacekeepers abusing civilians - including rape and sexual assault - and that is totally unacceptable," the President said, according to the statement.
"It's an affront to human decency. It undermines the core mission because it erodes trust with communities. It has a corrosive effect on global confidence in peacekeeping itself," he added.
More than 100,000 troops and police are deployed around the world under United Nations Peacekeeping missions.
