Pakistani peacekeepers provide medical help to people in Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 20 (APP):A one-day mobile medical clinic carried out by Pakistani and Bangladeshi battalions deployed with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) recently provided crucial medical assistance to several hundred vulnerable people at a very populated site for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kaga-Bandoro, a market town in the northern part of the country, according to a report received in New York.
Nearly 7,000 households have taken refuge at the “Saint Lazare” IDP camp after a series of security incidents between armed groups as also in the wake of natural disasters.
This is the fifteenth time that the medical units of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi battalions have provided mobile medical assistance in the area which has resulted in more than 8,500 local people receiving this much-needed care, the report said.
Major Hamid Hassan, the 3rd Pakistani Battalion’s officer in charge of relations with the local civilian community, said, “This initiative aims to strengthen humanitarian actions in the health sector and strengthen relations between the MINUSCA Force and the population. We plan to do it twice a month, depending on our possibilities.”
MINUSCA Military Force’ gesture of medical help promotes its acceptance among the civilian population and contributes to the efforts to restore or maintain peace, the report said. Such Civil-Military Cooperation activities are an integral part of MINUSCA operational planning to help the mission achieve it objectives, especially when the national authorities are not fully able to perform their functions.
Pakistan currently provides 1,138 military and police personnel to MINUSCA, whose top priority is the protection of civilians.
APP/ift