The General Assembly, in its resolution 57/129, designated 29 May as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. This is the date when in 1948 the first UN peacekeeping mission named the “United Nations Truce Supervision Organization”, or UNTSO, began operations in Palestine. Since then, the day has been set aside to two purposes:
- Pay tribute to the professionalism, dedication and courage of all the men and women serving in UN peacekeeping operations.
- Honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.
Since the first UN Peacekeeping mission was established in 1948, more than 3,700 military, police and civilian personnel have lost their lives in the service of peace as a result of acts of violence, accidents and disease. On 29 May, UN offices, alongside Member States and non-governmental organizations, hold solemn events to honour fallen peacekeepers.
At the UN Headquarters in New York, the Secretary-General presides over a wreath-laying ceremony in honour of all peacekeepers who lost their lives while serving under the UN flag. In addition, the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is awarded posthumously to the peacekeepers who have fallen while serving in the cause of peace, during the preceding year.
2019 International Day of UN Peacekeepers: More than Three Scores and a Decade of ‘Putting lives on the line’.
Over seven decades, more than one million men and women have served under the United Nations flag in 71 peacekeeping operations, directly impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people, protecting the world’s most vulnerable and saving countless lives. These peacekeepers make immense sacrifices, often serving at great personal risk and under challenging conditions. The families of peacekeepers and their governments share this sacrifice. From Sierra Leone to Cambodia, Timor Leste, Namibia, El Salvador and elsewhere, United Nations Peacekeeping has helped countries transition from war to peace. The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) successfully completed its mandate in March this year, becoming the 57th UN peacekeeping operation to do so. The closure of UNMIL also ended more than two decades of UN Peacekeeping in West Africa’s Mano River Basin.
UN peacekeeping is a flexible, evolving instrument that brings together political, security and technical tools at its disposal to assist countries make the difficult transition from conflict to peace. In March this year, the Secretary-General launched a new initiative, “Action for Peacekeeping,” aimed at improving performance and ensuring peacekeeping operations are fit for purpose in the face of ever more complex and dangerous theatres of operation. The initiative calls on Member States, the Security Council and troop- and police- contributing countries for a refocusing of peacekeeping with realistic expectations, mobilizing greater support for political solutions and, making peacekeeping missions stronger and safer by deploying well-equipped and well-trained forces, including more women to our operations.
Today, UN peacekeeping deploys more than 100,000 military, police and civilian personnel in 14 peacekeeping operations on four continents. Currently, UN peacekeeping operations receive contributions of military and police personnel from 124 Member States as well as critical equipment that sustain operations. Peacekeeping is truly a global partnership and this number reflects strong global confidence in the value of the UN’s flagship enterprise. Peacekeeping has also proven to be a solid investment in global peace, security, and prosperity. Despite the size and breadth of its operations, at just under $7 billion a year, peacekeeping’s annual budget remains less than on half of one percent of global military spending.
International Day of UN Peacekeepers: Past Observances
A tradition of over 70years, the IDUP is a remarkable in the calendar of world peace. In the past ten years, specific themes have been resonating points for the observation of this special day. The following gives a catalogue of some of these themes:
- 2007: Courage for Peace
- 2008: Honouring 60 Years of UN Peacekeeping
- 2009: Women in Peacekeeping: The Power to Empower
- 2010: Responding to Haiti tragedy
- 2011: Law.Order.Peace
- 2012: Peacekeeping Is a Global Partnership
- 2013: UN Peacekeeping: Adapting to New Challenges
- 2014: UN Peacekeeping: A Force for Peace. A Force for Change. A Force for the Future
- 2015: UN70 and UN Peacekeeping: Past, Present, and Future
- 2016: Honouring Our Heroes
- 2017: Investing in peace around the world
- 2018 Theme: “UN Peacekeepers: 70 Years of Service and Sacrifice”
Though 29th May of each year is the official date for commemorating with these heroes, 2019 will have its own celebrations on the 1st of June. In addition, the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is usually awarded posthumously to the peacekeepers who died in the previous year while serving in the cause of peace.
The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is a big deal. The words of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres aptly puts why this is so; “United Nations peacekeeping is a proven investment in global peace, security and prosperity. Together, let us pledge to do all we can to enable that mission to succeed.”
References
Featured image source: United Nations University