Resolution no. 1701 of 2006 of the United Nations Security Council gives a mandate to a force made up of about 10.300 soldiers and 800 civilians, coming from 48 countries, to ensure compliance with the end of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon, to guarantee the latter the full restoration of its territorial integrity also with assistance to the Armed Forces, as well as to support the local population with social, cultural and territorial development projects.
In Lebanon, religious, cultural and ethnic identities of different origins coexist peacefully and for this reason, considering the multiculturalism of the UNIFIL mission (United Nation Interim Force in Lebanon), the added value that Blue Helmets they manage to guarantee is facilitated by the ability to interact with "diversity", understanding their needs and expectations a priori.
The Italian mission in Lebanon led by the "Aosta" brigade under the command of Brigadier General Giuseppe Bertoncello, in his third mandate in the Land of the Cedars with the colors of the United Nations, he is responsible for the Western Sector of UNIFIL in which 3.800 Blue Helmets operate from 16 of the 48 countries contributing to the UN mission and which include over 1.000 Blue Helmets Italian.
This commitment to multiculturalism, to accepting and understanding different cultures from each other, while maintaining each one's own peculiarity, serves to grow and consolidate the search for peace and stability in the country.
Le Market Walk, i.e. patrols on foot in the market places, within the villages located in the area of operations; the Community Engagement Walk, i.e. the activities carried out by military personnel specialized in the engagement of the civilian population, with the aim of making the community in which they operate understand what are the purposes and pillars of the mission they carry out on behalf of the United Nations, as well as that of understanding and analyzing in turn, how the population perceives the presence of peacekeepers in the area; and finally the meetings that the commanders at various levels carry out with the representatives of the civil and religious authorities of South Lebanon (Key Leader Engagement), would have no effect if the multicultural factor of the social substratum in which the peacekeepers were not duly taken into consideration of UNIFIL operate.
Fully understanding the different social and religious identities of society - in Lebanon 18 religious confessions are recognized by the State - are the key to the success of the mission that Italy carries out with its own national contingent, in close collaboration with the contingents of other nations, thanks to the constant updating of its operators regarding the knowledge of cultural domains, also pursued with activities of team building and valuing different gender perspectives.
