PKO/71

FINLAND JOINS STANDBY ARRANGEMENTS FOR PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

The Defence Minister of Finland, Anneli Taina, signed the memorandum for her country, at a ceremony which took place at United Nations Headquarters. The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, signed it for the United Nations.

The 15 countries which have signed the memorandum to date, are Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Denmark, Ghana, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Singapore, Ukraine and Uruguay.

To date, 71 countries have officially expressed their willingness to participate in the standby arrangements regime, which was created in 1994 as a means to accelerate the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping operations. C�te d'Ivoire and Latvia are the latest additions to that group of countries.

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United Nations