Indian peacekeepers continue to provide humanitarian, healthcare assistance amidst COVID-19 threat

Indian peacekeepers serving in the UN missions across the world continue to provide essential humanitarian and healthcare assistance to the local communities notwithstanding the threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic. Indian peacekeepers with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) repaired an important road intersection in Khor Adar, restoring connections between Bunj and Melut.

"#UNMISS continues assisting local communities across #SouthSudan, despite challenges (from) #COVID19; our #peacekeepers (from) India repaired a major intersection in under a month, enabling people in a region of Malakal 2 resume road travel (between) 2 major towns," a tweet from UNMISS said. The engineers from the Indian Horizontal and Mechanical Company undertook intensive rehabilitation of the roadways to reopen the main supply routes between Bunj and Melut and Malakal.

A UNMISS report quoted Commanding Officer Lieutenant-Colonel MPS Ghai as saying that recent floods had destroyed the five-kilometer main junction connecting two major towns in the Upper Nile region Bunj and Melut. "We knew that we absolutely had to do something to help them as soon as possible," he said.

Rehabilitation of the roadways helped improve conditions for local communities living in the area and enabled humanitarian assistance to reach them swiftly. The Indian contingent worked with local authorities, providing labor, machinery, and technical expertise.

Ghai said that he is very proud of the dedication shown by the Indian troops as "they worked extra hours and performed punishing physical labor in harsh weather conditions without complaints." Local authorities in Malakal expressed their gratitude to the UNMISS peacekeepers. "What the Indian engineers from UNMISS have done is almost a miracle," Acting Governor James Agwer Awer said in the UNMISS report.

In addition to road repairs, UNMISS peacekeepers have also built an artificial water channel to facilitate irrigation for farms and created a playing field for young sports enthusiasts in the region. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) healthcare peacekeepers are working relentlessly to prevent the COVID19 spread.

Commanding Officer Lt Col GS Suri of UNIFIL Naqoura Hospital, who is also an ENT surgeon from India, said extra measures have been taken to establish triage center outside the hospital and patients coming into the hospital are examined for fever and other COVID symptoms. A UNIFIL article said Suri and many other healthcare practitioners like him at the forefront of COVID-19 response are putting their own health at risk to protect fellow peacekeepers and the host population in south Lebanon.

UNIFIL medical team is implementing rigorous precautionary measures and World Health Organization guidelines to ensure their own safety as well as that of their patients. UNIFIL has been providing medical supplies and equipment as part of the mission's broader efforts to assist the local population and communities in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

On UNIFIL's part, the Mission has taken all necessary precautionary measures to prevent any infection of the virus among the Mission's more than 11,000 military and civilian peacekeepers as well as the host populations.