New york: 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 Hammarskj¶ld 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.
According to Ghana News Agency, the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, will lay a wreath to honour the nearly 4,500 peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948. He is also expected to preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskj¶ld 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. He emphasized that no one should die serving the cause of peace, and highlighted the importance of Member States upholding their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel at all times. In his statement, he stressed that peacekeeping is a proven and cost-effective way to restore stability and hope, but it requires steady political backing and reliable financial support.
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 has to 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 and to the late Sergii Prykodko of Ukraine.
Mr Guterres would also present awards to the 2025 Military Gender Advocate of the Year, Major Abhilasha Barak of India, and to the UN Woman Police Officer of the Year, Stephanie K¶nigs of Germany. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, emphasized the United Nations peacekeepers' commitment to protecting civilians, preventing violence from escalating, and keeping hope alive in challenging environments.
He noted that investing in peacekeeping means investing in stability, prevention, and the possibility of peace itself. More than 50,000 civilian, military, and police peacekeepers serve under the UN flag in complex environments, where conflicts are increasingly fragmented and shaped by emerging threats.
A total of 118 countries currently contribute uniformed personnel to 11 peacekeeping missions. Ghana is the seventh largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping, deploying more than 1,900 military and police personnel, including 337 women, to various UN operations.
The General Assembly established the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in 2002, selecting May 29 as it commemorates the day in 1948 when the Security Council established the first UN Peacekeeping operation, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in the Middle East.