NEW ZEALAND, 8 April 2013 – The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations fourth meeting and workshop on Peacekeeping Operations Force Generation Process were held on the 8th – 11th April 2013 at the Amora Hotel, Wakefield Street, Wellington in New Zealand. The Experts’ Working Group was attended by representatives from all ADMM-Plus countries (except Cambodia) and representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat. Brunei Darussalam’s delegation was headed by 436 Major Pg Sharifuddin bin Pg Hj Yusof, CO Officer Cadet School Royal Brunei Armed Forces, and Pg Mohamad Yusre bin Pg Haji Daud, Research Officer, Directorate of Defence Policy.
The meeting and workshop was officially opened by Major General Tim Keating, vice chief of Defence Force, New Zealand and were co-chaired by Mr Daniel Mellsop, Head of International Branch, Ministry of Defence, New Zealand and Professor Raymund Quilop, Assistant Secretary for Strategic Assessment, Department of National Defense, Republic of the Philippines.
The Experts’ Working Group was welcomed with a workshop dinner at the Boomrock Lodge in Ohariu Valley and hosted by Mr Bede Corry, Deputy Secretary Policy and Planning, Ministry of Defence, New Zealand.
In the workshop, two personnel from the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UNDPKO), Colonel (Rtd) Najam ul Islam Ansari, Chief of the Force Generation Service UNDPKO and Colonel (Rtd) Siva Methil, Capability Development Officer, Policy and Doctrine Team UNDPKO was invited. They presented keynote addresses and gave a greater understanding of the issues faced when generating and deploying peacekeeping forces to achieve the mission as mandated by the United Nations Security Council. They also presented a case study of force generation from Troop Contributing Countries, the challenges and lesson learned from the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria and Republic of South Sudan.
The meeting agreed that the ADMM-Plus EWG on Peacekeeping Operations Table-Top-Exercise (TTX) is to be held in Manila at the last week of November 2013. The objective of the TTX will focus on the practical activities for more exploration on force generation issues pertinent to that have been discussed during the syndicate discussion in the workshop. The process of handing over to Cambodia and South Korea as the next new ADMM-Plus EWG co-chair on peacekeeping operations will proceed after the completion of the TTX.
