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or Indonesia, peacekeeping is both an integral part of its constitutional mandate and an important element in its foreign policy and multilateral diplomacy.

Against this backdrop, Indonesia hosted the Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting on Peacekeeping in Jakarta on July 27-28 as part of a series of meetings in other regions to follow up the 2014 Peacekeeping Summit.

The meeting gathered eminent peacekeeping policy makers and practitioners from no fewer than 130 participants from more than 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. The convening could not have been timelier.

There is no denying that UN peacekeeping is under historic stress.

UN peacekeeping is in the midst of evolution toward a complex and multidimensional role.

Blue helmets are increasingly entrusted with more robust mandates, with blurred boundaries between conflict prevention, peacekeeping, peace-enforcement and peacebuilding. They are tasked with operating in remote and hostile environments where, at times, there is no peace to keep and no peace agreement
to support.

Terrorist and armed groups affiliated with transnational organized crime are hardly the only things threatening the safety and security of UN peacekeepers. Some UN peacekeepers also perish in accidents or due to illness.

Yet, the world continues to turn to UN peacekeeping to help these countries navigating difficult paths from conflict to peace and development.

However, UN peacekeeping continues to suffer from capability shortfalls and a lack of rapidly deployable personnel.

Against this backdrop, Indonesia calls for strengthened support from countries in the Asia-Pacific region for UN peacekeeping.

Indeed, the region already provides a lion'€™s share as the world'€™s largest contributor to UN peacekeepers. But it has still the potential to contribute more.

The region is not only home to some of the world'€™s largest troop/police-contributing countries, but also to emerging potential contributors.

Indonesia is an example of a visionary and very committed '€œnet contributor'€ to international peace and security through UN peacekeeping operations.

Indonesia is deeply committed to peacekeeping and takes pride in the history and track record of its peacekeepers. Since its first participation in UN peacekeeping in 1957, Indonesia has deployed more than 30,000 personnel on 40 peacekeeping missions around the globe.

Currently, the country is a proud contributor of 2,735 personnel, currently serving in 10 UN peacekeeping missions and ranking 11th out of 122 country participants. As of June, these included 1,288 personnel in Lebanon, 968 in Sudan, 213 in the Central African Republic and 190 in the Congo.

Out of these figures, Indonesia has positioned its best peacekeepers in UN senior leadership positions, namely Lt. Gen. Rais Abin, who served as force commander for the second UN Emergency Force in Sinai (1977-1979); Brig. Gen., Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, as chief military observer in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1995-1996); and Maj. Gen. Imam Edy Mulyono, now the commander in Western Sahara.

Now, Indonesia is aiming higher. With its Roadmap for Vision 4,000 Peacekeepers, Indonesia seeks to contribute up to 4,000 personnel by 2019, to become one of the top 10 troop/police-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping.

However, Indonesia is fully aware that contribution to peacekeeping operations is not merely about numbers, but also very much about the quality and capacity of the contingent and deployed equipment for the effective discharge of the respective mandates.

In this regard, Indonesia has proudly announced a number of ongoing and future contributions to UN peacekeeping.

We are in the process of realizing the deployment of three Mi-17 utility helicopters to Mali before the end of 2015.

In 2016, we will have operational readiness to deploy a Composite Batallion and a Formed Police Unit for UN peacekeeping missions.

Indonesia is also steadfastly training 100 individual police peacekeepers, including 40 female police officers, to be deployed on UN peacekeeping missions. This is in line with its commitment to enhancing the number of its female peacekeepers.

The regional meeting managed to meet its expectations. It is heartening to see that participating countries responded to Indonesia'€™s plea to contribute more personnel and funding to close the contribution gap in UN peacekeeping.

They also explored ways to increase the capacities of peacekeepers from the region, including through training and capacity-building programs as well as strengthening networks of peacekeeping centers in the region.

Likewise, the meeting identified and deliberated key issues that are relevant to the experience of countries in the region in contributing to UN peacekeeping.

First, it provided a forum for frank discussion on the need for legal and shared understanding of the Security Council'€˜s mandates among all components in the field, particularly in peace-enforcement mandates entailing a robust apporach for implementing the protection of civilians.

Second, it called for the UN to adopt a more flexible and supportive approach in dealing with countries confronted with domestic contraints that possibly prevent them from timely and rapidly responding to requests for contributions to UN peacekeeping.

Third, it explored comparative advantages and niche capabilities of countries in the region. Each country in the region has indeed different experience and levels of involvement in contributing to UN peacekeeping.

Fourth, it underlined the importance for UN peacekeeping operations to be provided with matching capabilities and resources to effectively implement and safely execute their increasingly complex mandates.

And last, it encouraged the need to expand the base of contributors to peacekeeping missions with a view to closing contribution gaps in UN peacekeeping missions.

The outcome of this meeting can hopefully be a positive contribution to the successful deliberation at the next Peacekeeping Summit scheduled for New York next month, although the meeting did not automatically close the contribution gap or enable more rapid deployment.

If there is one thing Indonesia wishes to demonstrate through the convening of this meeting is that even the smallest contribution matters '€” it can make a difference.

While Indonesia believes that UN peacekeeping alone is not a cure for all conflicts, it will tirelessly call for other countries to step up their contributions to the noble endeavor of strengthening UN peacekeeping.

We must continue to work toward a comprehensive, coherent and integrated effort for the maintenance of international peace and security by advancing effective preventive diplomacy, peacekeeping and peacebuilding strategies.
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The author is the Foreign Minister; the article is an excerpt of her remarks at the Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting on Peacekeeping held in Jakarta on July 27-28.