PKO/78

IRELAND JOINS STANDBY ARRANGEMENTS FOR PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

The signing ceremony took place in the Office of the Under-Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet. Ireland's Minister of Defence, Michael Smith, signed the memorandum on behalf of his country; Mr. Miyet signed it for the United Nations.

The other nineteen countries which have signed the memorandum up to now, are: Jordan, Denmark, Ghana, Malaysia, Austria, Italy, Singapore, Bolivia, Ukraine, Nepal, Uruguay, Argentina, Bangladesh, Lithuania, Nigeria, Finland, Germany, Romania and the Netherlands.

Seventy-seven countries have so far indicated their willingness to participate in the stand-by arrangements, which were set up in 1994 to accelerate the process of deployment for peacekeeping operations.

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United Nations