The Moroccan army’s contribution to global peacekeeping operations (PKO) placed it among the top 15 contributors—actually 11th– according to data published by InsiderMonkey on Saturday.
More than 1,720 Moroccans are currently deployed in these missions around the world, primarily in Africa, and even more precisely in Congo Democratic Republic (MONUSCO) and Central Africa (MINUSCA).
Since 1948, over 75,000 Moroccan personnel have served in 14 missions in different nations, as the Kingdom has cumulatively established 17 field hospitals in these countries in serving around three million individuals.
Morocco comes second in the Arab world as a contributor with its personnel in PKO–following only Egypt–which participates with 2,109 personnel.
The Kingdom came in fourth in Africa overall with respect to its dedication to the peacekeeping mission. Ghana was ranked first with 2,769 soldiers and policemen, then came the Senegalese contingent (2,468 personnel), followed by Egypt.
The largest contributor in such operations is Bangladesh with 7,279 people deployed currently, followed by Nepal with 6,199, and then India with 6,097 personnel onsite.
Many Moroccans sacrificed their lives while serving in these peacekeeping missions, and thus received the Dag Hammarskjöld medal, a posthumous award given by the United Nations to honor these soldiers.
In 2015, Morocco lost five troops in peacekeeping operations. In the years since, it has grieved one, seven, one, one, one, one, and three soldiers respectively from 2015 to 2023, primarily constituting the region encompassing Central Africa through Congo.
Peacekeeping operations (PKOs) are mechanisms utilized by the UN to maintain peace and security amid disputes, prevent conflicts, and apply ceasefires.
The concept of a PKO is inherently designed to enable it to avoid partisanship or bias in the conflicts at issue.
Therefore, the UN has adopted three rules to organize these operations, namely: the parties’ consent, impartiality, and the non-use of force except in defense of the mandate.