Imtroduction

Nepal became a member of the United Nations in 1955 and since then, has been an active participant of most UN endeavors. The participation of Nepalese Army in the UN peacekeeping operations spans a period of 50 years covering 34 UN Missions, in which over 70,757 personnel have participated. The Army’s long association with UN Peace Support Operations began with the deployment of five Military Observers in the Middle East (United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon) in 1958. The first Nepalese contingent, Purano Gorakh battalion was deployed in Egypt in 1974. The Nepalese Army has contributed outstanding force commanders, elite military contingents, impartial military observers and dedicated staff officers. Their devotion to duty and excellent performance has been widely acclaimed. Nepalese troops have taken part in some of the most difficult operations, and have suffered casualties in the service of the UN. To date, 54 personnel of the Nepalese Army have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty and 57 have been disabled.

Present Participation

As of November 2008, the Nepalese Army was deployed across 16 missions around the world. In addition, the Army has officers in the UN HQ DPKO and liaison officers at Tampa Bay, Florida. As a troop contributing nation Nepal ranks fifth in the world. Currently the Nepalese Army has some 3121 soldiers serving in 16 different Missions around the World. Nepal has a commitment to provide upto 5000 soldiers for UN operations if so requested.

BIRENDRA PEACE OPERATIONS TRAINING CENTRE

The Nepalese Army established a Peacekeeping training center in 1986 on an ad hoc basis to provide pre-mission training for the Nepalese Contingents taking part in Peacekeeping Operations. In January 2000, an international platoon sized exercise was organized at this training center, which actually paved the way to turn the ad hoc training center into the full fledged “Birendra Peace Operations Training Center”. This training center was formally established in November 2001 as an institution to provide training in Peace Support Operations (PSOs).

Organization

This training center is staffed by officers, warrant officers, and non commissioned officers who have extensive experience in various peacekeeping missions, as well as instructional training in Nepal and abroad. The organization of the training center is as follows:

Headquarters Element
Training Unit
Administration and Logistics Unit
Research and Development Unit
Demonstration and Security Unit

Mission

The mission of the training center is to provide a nucleus of expertise within the Nepalese Army, responsible for the development of Peace Support Operations based on lessons learnt, training methodologies, training standards and the provision of training and training supports.

Tasks

The tasks of the training center are as follows:

Train Nepalese Army personnel selected for Peace Support Operations.
Provide training assistance to other army schools, National and regional peace support training centers, as well as provide a forum for International seminars and workshops on Peace Support Operations.
Conduct evaluation and validation of peace support trainings conducted by Birendra Peace Support Operations Training Center.
Coordinate the development of Peace Support Training standards, Standard Operating Procedures and instructional materials.
Conduct liaison with other centers of excellence.
Advice Nepalese Army- DPKO on peace support operations.

Despite the heavy commitment of troops to different internal duties within the country, Nepal and the Nepalese Army remain for ever committed to the ideals and principles of the United Nations. The Nepalese Army has been sending troops to several International exercises and UN missions, continuously striving to share Peace Keeping Operations techniques between member nations of the UN. Experiences and lessons learnt from these exercises have been implemented in the training programs of this institution, attempting to iron away inter-operability issues that might arise in a Multi National Force.