Pakistani Peacekeepers Provide Medical Help To At-risk Community In Central African Republic

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published October 31, 2017 | 08:55 PM

Pakistani peacekeepers operating in the strife-torn Central African Republic (CAR) provided free medical assistance to 182 vulnerable people, mostly children

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 31st Oct, 2017 ) :Pakistani peacekeepers operating in the strife-torn Central African Republic (car) provided free medical assistance to 182 vulnerable people, mostly children, in the village of Djamasinda, near Ndele in Bamingui-Bangoran prefecture, according to a report received at UN Headquarters in New York Tuesday.

The medical outreach effort by Pakistani peacekeepers serving in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), was part of the UN Day celebrations launched on Oct.

24. They also donated medicines, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently visited the Central African Republic, where violence between Muslim and Christian militias has intensified over the past few months.

Since March, most health facilities in the area have seen the level of their drug support drop following the withdrawal of one of the main NGO partners, the report said.

"We went to the hospitals and were consulted, but then there were not always the prescribed drugs ...

Today I can be consulted and have medicine, I'm very happy now," Arana, a mother in the village, was quoted as saying in the report. Major Rashid Rauf, Commander of the Pakistani Company based in Ndele, said, "We brought this mobile clinic to the village to show our solidarity on the occasion of United Nations Day, but our resources and mandate do not allow us to do everything." The presence of this mobile clinic was also an opportunity for MINUSCA's Public Information Section to sensitize the population and the local authorities on the mandate of MINUSCA and also on the need for peaceful co-existence, according to the report.

Pakistan is currently one of the largest contributors of peacekeepers to the United Nations with more than 6,200 serving worldwide, including more than 1,100 deployed in MINUSCA.