Mr. Masahiko HORIE, Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia, attended and witnessed the signing between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Malaysia on Friday, 9 April 2010, for “Capacity Building Support for Malaysia’s Role in Multidimensional Peacekeeping Training”, a new capacity building support project at the Malaysian Peacekeeping Training Centre at Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.   YBhg Dato’ Noriyah Ahmad, Director-General of the Economic Planning Unit, signed on behalf of the Government of Malaysia while Resident Representative of Malaysia Mr Kamal Malhotra represented the UNDP.  The Government of Japan had contributed USD$1 million, through the UNDP-Japan Partnership Fund, in support of this new project.

    The project not only trains Malaysian peacekeeping personnel but also trains peacekeepers from Asia and Africa.  To be the first-of-its-kind multi-dimensional peacekeeping training centre in the region, it will be managed by both UNDP and the Ministry of Defence Malaysia.  With the new training curriculum and courses derived for the said project, it would certainly accentuate the multidimensional aspects of peacekeeping, in particular civil-military coordination as well as protection of children and women in times of armed conflicts.

    Since 1989, the Government of Japan has extended about RM10 million to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local governments in Malaysia under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects scheme as a way to contribute to many small but socially important projects at the grassroots level.