Accra, May 28, GNA – Warrant Officer Class 1, George Amin, a Ghanaian who lost his life while serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in February 2025 will be honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal on June 5.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers will be observed at the UN Headquarters on Friday, June 5, to pay tribute to women and men serving in UN peacekeeping, and honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.
A release copied to Ghana News Agency on Thursday said the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, will lay a wreath to honour the nearly 4,500 peacekeepers who had lost their lives since 1948.
He is also expected to preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to 68 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, who paid the ultimate price in the line of duty, including 59 who perished last year.
Mr Guterres reaffirmed the responsibility of stakeholders to respect and strengthen the work of peacekeepers.
“No one should die serving the cause of peace. Attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law, and Member States must uphold their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel at all times,” he was quoted as saying.
“In an era of rising tensions, peacekeeping is a proven and cost-effective way to restore stability and hope. But it requires steady political backing – and reliable financial support,” he stated.
This year’s International Day of the UN Peacekeeper is themed: “Invest in Peace,” underscoring peacekeeping as one of the most effective tools the international community must respond to conflict.
“During a special ceremony, the Secretary-General will award the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage” to Corporal Matias Reyes of Uruguay for his actions in Goma, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo during the height of the crisis in early 2025 and to the late Sergii Prykodko of Ukraine who served as a private contractor in the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and was killed during a mission to extract besieged soldiers in March last year,” the statement said.
Mr Guterres would also present awards to the 2025 Military Gender Advocate of the Year, Major Abhilasha Barak of India, who serves in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and to the UN Woman Police Officer of the Year, Stephanie Königs of Germany, who served in UNMISS, it said.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, emphasised the United Nations peacekeepers commitment to protecting civilians, preventing violence from escalating, and keeping hope alive in some of the world’s most difficult environments.
He noted that investing in peacekeeping meant investing in stability, prevention and the possibility of peace itself,” at a time of rising conflict and shrinking resources.
More than 50,000 civilian, military and police peacekeepers serve under the UN flag in some of the world’s most complex environments, where conflicts are increasingly fragmented, protracted, and shaped by emerging threats, including the misuse of digital tools and the spread of harmful information.
A total of 118 countries currently contribute uniformed personnel to 11 peacekeeping missions with Ghana being the seventh largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping.
It currently deploys with more than 1,900 military and police personnel, including 337 women, to the UN operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, the Middle East, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
The General Assembly established the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in 2002 and selected May 29 as it was the day in 1948 when the Security Council established the first UN Peacekeeping operation, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in the Middle East
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe