NEW YORK, APRIL 26 – The Italian Permanent Representative to the UN, Maurizio Massari, met today his Bangladesh colleague, Rabab Fatima, with whom he shares the chairmanship of the Group of Friends on the Environmental Impact of field missions. “It was a discussion full of ideas, not only on future initiatives of the Group of Friends, but also on multilateral issues of common interest”, the parts commented on Twitter after the meeting. Last February, Ambassador Fatima was elected Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission.
The Group of Friends (LEAF) was established in 2018 under the leadership of Italy and Bangladesh, with the aim of promoting the implementation of the environmental strategy launched by the United Nations Department for Field Support in 2017, and to raise awareness among Member States and the United Nations system of the need to strengthen cooperation to ensure efficient and sustainable environmental management by UN peacekeepers, thereby also contributing to the effective implementation of their mandates.
Italy is the first contributor of peacekeeping forces among Western countries and among the top ten contributors to the peacekeeping budget, as well as hosting an important UN logistics centre in Brindisi. Bangladesh has been contributing to UN peacekeeping missions for three decades. It was the first contingent deployed in peace operations in 1988 and is the second in terms of men and women serving as blue helmets. (@OnuItalia)
