NEW YORK, OCTOBER 26 – A meeting of the Group of Friends Leading on Environmental Management in the Field (LEAF) with
the Directors and Chiefs of Mission Support of UN peacekeeping operations was held today at the Italian Mission to the United Nations. It was an opportunity to give thanks to all involved in UN peacekeeping for their efforts to implement the Department of Field Support in its environmental strategy.
Chaired by Italy and Bangladesh, the Group of Friends (LEAF) was established in 2018 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)