Canada should actively participate in providing care to victims of the war in Ukraine with peacekeepers. We must be a model of good Samaritans by taking care of our Ukrainian neighbors. Do not hesitate ; hurry up.
Having worked with NGOs in war-torn countries Lebanon and Somalia, I have seen the important role peacekeepers play in advocating for humanitarian and health workers who respond to the needs of victims. of these conflicts.
In 1983, I opened — and then worked there — a Lebanese medical clinic protected by international peacekeeping forces from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. A force sent at the request of the government of Lebanon, and not under a United Nations mandate.
In 1993, I volunteered to provide emergency care under the protection of United Nations forces in Somalia. I remember working with a mobile clinic in an area of Mogadishu nicknamed “Bermuda”, in reference to the famous triangle, because it was said that anyone who visited the area might not come out alive. We were escorted there by US armed forces, who protected us while we cared for our patients; gunshots could be heard as the soldiers defended us against attacks by armed groups.
In Ukraine, medical support is urgently needed due to injuries suffered by civilians (including many children, women and the elderly) and military personnel on both sides. In addition, the war causes significant collateral damage in the population: disease, malnutrition, unsanitary conditions, loss of access to food and drinking water, for example. We also need to provide mental health support (depression, violence and suicide).
Canada could actively participate in the humanitarian effort by providing equipment, medicine, logistical support and medical personnel.
Such assistance, however, can only be delivered safely with the protection of peacekeepers. And this can happen with or without the support of the United Nations. If a multinational peacekeeping force is approved by the international organization, Canada could be part of it. Otherwise, a ceasefire could be negotiated between Ukraine and Russia by a neutral power, such as India, for example. Then a force from non-aligned nations — African countries, for example — could be sent to Ukraine to enforce it. It was such a force that was sent to Lebanon in 1982.
It is imperative that we act immediately.