UN honours eight fallen Pakistani peacekeepers

UN chief chairs ceremony in New York to mark International Day of UN Peacekeepers

UNITED NATIONS:

The United Nations on Thursday honoured 103 military, police, and civilian personnel from around the world, including eight Pakistani peacekeepers, who lost their lives serving under the UN flag last year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres chaired a special ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New York to commemorate the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping. Guterres also laid a floral wreath to honour the more than 4,200 fallen UN peacekeepers.

The UN chief posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjold Medal to the peacekeepers, who made the ultimate sacrifice for peace, in 2022. Pakistan’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Aamir Khan accepted the awards for the Pakistani soldiers.

The eight fallen Pakistani peacekeepers included Havaldar Muhammad Ismail, Maj Faizan Ali, Lt-Col Asif Awan, Naib Subedar Samiullah Khan, Maj Saad Nomani and Lance Havildar Jamil Khan from the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) who died in a helicopter crash on March 29, 2022.

In addition, Havildar Babar Siddique lost his life while also serving in MONUSCO and Corporal Rana Muhammad Tahir Islam, who was working with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

At the ceremony, the UN secretary-general also presented the 2022 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award to Captain Cecilia Erzuah of Ghana, who served with the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

“Today, on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, we honour their extraordinary contributions to international peace and security,” the UN Secretary-General told the ceremony.

On the occasion, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix appreciated the support of all stakeholders to ensure that the UN peacekeeping could continue to work as an effective multilateral tool for global peace and security.

Pakistan is currently the fifth largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping with nearly 4,200 military and police personnel serving in Abyei, the Central African Republic; Cyprus; the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Mali; South Sudan and Western Sahara.