New Delhi, May 28 (UNI) The United Nations will honour Indian peacekeeper Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal on May 30, being observed as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. The UN Secretary General will also present the 2023 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award to Major Radhika Sen, a military officer from India, during the event.
India is the second largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping. It currently deploys more than 6,000 military and police personnel to the UN operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, the Middle East, Somalia, South Sudan, and Western Sahara.
During the formal ceremonies at the United Nations Headquarters, Secretary-General António Guterres will lay a wreath to honour all UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948. He will also preside over a ceremony in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, at which Dag Hammarskjöld Medals will be awarded posthumously to 64 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, who lost their lives serving under the UN flag, including 61 who perished last year.
Among the peacekeepers to be honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal is Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh, who served with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO), a statement said.
The Secretary-General will also present the 2023 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award to Major Radhika Sen, a military officer from India, who served with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
Created in 2016, the Award “recognizes the dedication and effort of an individual peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security”.
In his message, the Secretary-General said: “Today we pay tribute to the more than 76,000 United Nations peacekeepers who embody humanity’s highest ideal: peace. Day in and day out, at great personal risk, these women and men bravely work in some of the most dangerous and unstable places on earth to protect civilians, uphold human rights, support elections and strengthen institutions. More than 4,300 peacekeepers have paid the ultimate price while serving under the UN flag. We will never forget them.”
The theme for 2024 International Day of UN Peacekeepers is “Fit for the future, building better together”.
“UN Peacekeeping remains a unique global partnership, with peacekeepers from over 120 countries making a meaningful difference every day to millions of people in some of the most world’s most difficult places,” said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations. “As we respond to tomorrow’s challenges, UN Peacekeeping continues to evolve, leveraging partnerships to be nimble, responsive and fit-for-purpose, promote stability, protect the vulnerable and help to build a durable peace.”
The International Day of UN Peacekeepers was established by the UN General Assembly in 2002, to pay tribute to all men and women serving in peacekeeping, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.
