UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The head of U.N. peacekeeping operations says that despite criticism, international deployments are well executed.
Alain Le Roy, U.N. undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations, said that in recent years the United Nations has increased its level of worldwide peacekeeping commitments as a result of ongoing violence in conflict zones.
Despite criticism about the ability of the 18 U.N. operations to secure volatile regions, Le Roy said the missions are crucial, the United Nations reported.
"We are going where others do not want to go," Le Roy said in a statement.
"Sometimes we are easy scapegoats. (But) on the contrary, on my field visits I see missions that in the vast majority of cases are being executed well."
Le Roy says that some of the shortcomings of U.N. missions in places like the Darfur region of Sudan are a result of the lack of enough international support with troops and helicopters.
