Ghana is hosting a two-day meeting on the UN peacekeeping operations in Africa amid increased calls for the world body's troops to leave several countries on the continent.
Ministers and delegates from at least 85 countries are meeting in Ghana's capital Accra between December 4 and December 5.
The UN said the meeting "aims to secure vital political support and concrete commitments to strengthen UN Peacekeeping efforts to meet current and future challenges and needs."
Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan are the latest African countries to push for the withdrawal of UN troops, citing ineffectiveness and human rights abuses.
'Political endeavour'
In Mali, the troops have begun pulling out, while in DRC, the UN and the Congolese government have agreed on a phased withdrawal of peacekeepers. The UN Security Council recently voted to end its peacekeeping mission in Sudan.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, says "peacekeeping is a political endeavour."
"Our goal is to help parties secure and implement peace agreements and related processes. To succeed in a world that is more divided than ever, we need the united and active engagement of member states," he said on Monday.
The UN peacekeepers have traditionally been deployed to countries experiencing unrest. Their main objective is to lead stabilisation operations.
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