Jakarta. Indonesia will continue to increase the number of personnel in UN peacekeeping missions and maintain position as one of the ten biggest contributors to the worldwide mission, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Friday.

The country currently deploys more than 2,900 personnel to UN peacekeeping operations while increasing the number of female officers.

“Indonesia is ranked eighth among 119 countries who contribute to the UN peacekeeping mission,” Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard, the ministry’s director general for multilateral cooperation, said in a video conference.

The country also added the number of female personnel at UN missions, Febrian said. 

Indonesia deploys 158 women to seven UN peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Darfur, Mali and Western Sahara. At least 570 Indonesia women have participated in UN peacekeeping missions since 1999.

According to the UN Peacekeeping website, Indonesia deployed a total of 2,837 personnel in August. They include 314 police officers, 2,459 troops, 22 military experts and 42 staff officers.

Indonesia is the eighth-biggest contributor after Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Egypt.

When assuming presidency of the UN Security Council in August, Indonesia successfully had its proposal on female peacekeeping force adopted by the Council.

Resolution 2538 was passed by acclamation to promote the role of women as “peace agents” under the UN peacekeeping force.  

It calls on UN member states, the UN Secretariat and regional organizations to promote the full, effective, and meaningful participation of uniformed and civilian women in peacekeeping operations at all levels and in all positions, including in senior leadership positions.

The resolution is the first of its kind to promote women as members of the UN peacekeeping force. Initiated by Indonesia, the resolution has won support from 97 UN member states, including all current members of the Security Council.

Rarely has a resolution been sponsored by the entire members of the Security Council.

The resolution encourages member states to develop strategies and measures to increase the deployment of uniformed women to peacekeeping operations. It encourages cooperation among member states and between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations in advancing greater participation and role of women in peacekeeping operations.

The UN peacekeeping force currently has 5,327 female personnel, accounting for just 6.4 percent of the overall peacekeepers.