Nepal and UN Peacekeeping: Missions, Troop Contribution and Global Ranking

Nepal is one of the world's longest-serving and largest contributors of uniformed personnel to United Nations peacekeeping operations. The country began participating in 1958, and has since deployed personnel from the Nepali Army, the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force to UN missions across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean.

Cumulatively, more than 150,000 Nepali peacekeepers have served under the UN flag since 1958, a record that places Nepal in the small group of countries sustaining large-scale contributions across more than six decades. Nepal's engagement is rooted in its foreign policy of support for the UN Charter and collective security, and peacekeeping is widely regarded within the country as a point of national pride as well as an important source of professional experience and income for its security forces.

Nepal's involvement in UN peacekeeping began in 1958, when it sent five military observers to the United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon (UNOGIL). This made Nepal one of the earlier non-aligned states to answer the UN's call for impartial peacekeepers during the Cold War era.

The first full Nepali contingent was deployed in 1974, when the Purano Gorakh Battalion of the Nepali Army joined the Second United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) in the Sinai, in the Middle East. From this point, Nepal moved from contributing individual observers to providing organised troop formations, and its participation expanded steadily over the following decades to encompass operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Liberia, Haiti, Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Mali, Western Sahara, Cyprus and elsewhere. Over its history Nepal has taken part in roughly four dozen distinct UN missions.

Three Nepali institutions contribute to UN operations. The Nepali Army provides the largest share, deploying infantry battalions, military observers, staff officers and specialist units. The Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force contribute police personnel, including individual police officers (IPOs) and Formed Police Units (FPUs), which perform public-order, protection and capacity-building roles in post-conflict settings.

Nepal has also expanded the participation of women in its deployments, in line with UN goals on women, peace and security. In 2020 Nepal sent an all-female engagement platoon of around 132 personnel as part of its contingent to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and women continue to serve across multiple missions as troops, police and staff officers. Nepali officers have additionally held senior UN field appointments, including Force Commander positions in missions such as UNIKOM, UNFICYP and UNDOF.

Nepali peacekeepers serve in many of the UN's largest and most demanding field operations. In recent years the biggest concentrations of Nepali personnel have been in the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Nepalis have also been deployed in missions in Abyei (UNISFA), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Western Sahara (MINURSO), Cyprus (UNFICYP), the Golan Heights and the broader Middle East (UNDOF/UNTSO), among others.

According to the official UN Peacekeeping country page for Nepal (last updated 4 April 2026), Nepal was the fifth-largest contributor to UN peacekeeping, with more than 5,700 personnel serving in more than a dozen countries. Earlier figures had at times placed Nepal as the single largest contributor: UN data for 30 November 2023, for example, showed Nepal at the top with 6,247 uniformed personnel, narrowly ahead of Bangladesh. Because deployment levels and rankings shift constantly as missions are established, scaled back or closed, exact totals and the precise ranking should always be checked against the live UN figures rather than treated as fixed.

Nepal is routinely listed among the top five troop- and police-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping, alongside states such as Bangladesh, India, Rwanda and Pakistan. Its ranking has fluctuated near the top of the table: Nepal reached first place in late 2023 and early 2024 before settling among the leading contributors in subsequent UN snapshots.

These rankings are published and updated regularly by the UN Department of Peace Operations, which issues monthly tables of uniformed personnel by contributing country. The relative position of any country can change month to month, but Nepal's sustained presence at or near the top reflects a decades-long policy commitment rather than a short-term surge.

Peacekeeping carries real risks, and Nepal has lost personnel in the line of duty over its decades of service. The UN Peacekeeping country page for Nepal recorded 76 Nepali peacekeepers who had lost their lives serving under the UN flag (as of the 4 April 2026 update). Earlier national and UN counts reported figures in a similar range, reflecting deaths from hostile acts, accidents and illness across multiple missions.

Lebanon has historically been among the deadliest theatres for Nepali peacekeepers, and individual incidents have caused significant losses, such as a 2010 helicopter crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Each year the United Nations honours fallen peacekeepers, including those from Nepal, on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, marked on 29 May.

Nepal's large and durable contribution reflects several factors: a foreign-policy emphasis on multilateralism and the UN Charter; the professional reputation and training of its security forces, including dedicated peacekeeping training at the Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre; and the operational and financial benefits that participation brings to the army and police. UN reimbursements and allowances are a meaningful source of revenue, and overseas service provides exposure to international operational standards.

For the wider world, Nepal's steady supply of disciplined peacekeepers helps the UN field its missions in conflict and post-conflict zones. For Nepal, peacekeeping has become a central element of its international identity and a visible demonstration of its commitment to global peace and security.