International peacekeeping efforts will be given a big shot in the arm over the next year. Last September at the UN Peacekeeping Summit, US President Barrack Obama announced that UN member states had pledged 40,000 new troops and police personnel for peacekeeping missions around the world. The 40,000 troops is a huge surge to add to the more than 100,000 troops already operating in more than 16 countries. A major focus for this peacekeeping surge is to bring in specialised capabilities. That means more intelligence units, engineering troops, medical personnel and boosts to their aviation assets. Overall, countries also pledged more than 40 helicopters, 15 engineering companies and 10 field hospitals. These are many of the things missions have for years insisted they needed most.
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