Two Indian peacekeepers, who died while serving under the UN flag last year, were honoured on International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
The two peacekeepers were identified as Brigadier General Amitabh Jha and Havildar Sanjay Singh.
Jha served the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
Singh was deployed with the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
The first UN peacekeeping operation was established in 1948 and today more than 68,000 civilian, military, and police personnel are posted at 11 missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East as well as at Headquarters in New York.
The Day pays tribute to their unwavering service and sacrifice while honouring the more than 4,400 blue helmets who have died in the line of duty over the decades – 57 in 2024 alone.
This year’s theme focuses on the future of peacekeeping and Secretary-General António Guterres noted that “peacekeepers face increasingly complex situations in an increasingly complex world.”
Peacekeepers have served in challenging conditions ever since military observers were first dispatched nearly 80 years ago to monitor the armistice agreement between Israel and neighbouring countries.
“Most of our missions have deteriorated political and security environments,” the head of UN Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix told journalists in New York.
He listed UNIFIL, the stabilization mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, and the observer force in the Golan (UNDOF) as examples.
Peacekeepers everywhere “are making a critical difference on the ground in spite of all these challenges”, he said.
“I want to insist that by preserving ceasefires, by preventing the resumption of violence in those environments, by protecting every single day hundreds of thousands of civilians, our peacekeepers are really making a huge difference in the field.”
Remembering the fallen
At the wreath-ceremony, peacekeepers gathered in the lobby of UN Headquarters alongside Secretary-General Guterres to remember their fallen colleagues.
Dressed in national uniforms, topped by blue UN berets, they stood in silence and saluted as “Taps” rang out.
The 57 peacekeepers who paid the ultimate price last year, as well as another who lost his life in 1973, were posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal during another ceremony in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber.
The award is named after the UN’s first Secretary-General who died in 1961 in a plane crash in what is now Zambia.
“We hold them all in our hearts and we grieve with their families and loved ones. Their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” said Guterres.
The mood shifted from solemn to celebratory as two women peacekeepers serving in the disputed Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan were presented top UN military and police awards.
Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme of Ghana received the 2024 UN Military Gender Advocate Award while Chief Superintendent Zainab Mbalu Gbla of Sierra Leone was named the Woman Police Officer of the Year.
