Senior UN peacekeeping official to visit China

The United Nations peacekeeping chief is slated to pay an official visit to China this week to attend a meeting on the Organization’s operations tasked with restoring stability and democracy in conflict-ravaged countries.

Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy will be accompanied by the Secretary-General’s top military adviser General Obiakor and Assistant-Secretary-General Anthony Banbury.

In addition to participating in the UN peacekeeping symposium in Beijing, Mr. Le Roy plans to meet with members of the Chinese Defense Ministry and Foreign Affairs Ministry to discuss the vast Asian nation’s contribution to the world body’s peacekeeping efforts.

Meanwhile, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Susana Malcorra is in Sudan this week to attend the latest round of tripartite talks with the Sudanese Government and the African Union (AU).

Among the issues Ms. Malcorra is expected to discuss is the deployment of troops, personnel and equipment to the joint UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

UNAMID was established by the Security Council in 2007 to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million forced from their homes since violence erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and their allied Janjaweed militiamen.