UN to posthumously honor Pakistani peacekeeper along with 64 others

The posthumous awards will be honored at a special ceremony on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers on Thursday (May 30). UN Secretary-General will preside over the solemn ceremony in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at UN Headquarters in New York, the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations said in a press release.

Among the posthumous awardees of Dag Hammarskjold medals is Muhammad Zafar Abbas, a Pakistani who worked in a civilian capacity for the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Yemen.

Earlier, the UN chief will lay a wreath to honor the more than 4,300 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.  Among them are 170 Pakistani peacekeepers who embraced martyrdom during Pakistan’s decades-long participation in UN peace operations.

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Pakistan is the 5th largest contributor of military and police personnel to UN peace operations with more than 3,800 now serving in  Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, and Western Sahara, state-run APP reported.

In his message, Guterres 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 the 2024 International Day of UN Peacekeepers is “Fit for the Future, Building Better Together.”

The theme denotes that while UN Peacekeeping has proven to be part of the solution for over 75 years — assisting host countries in navigating the difficult path from conflict to peace —  the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace policy brief sets out a path for multilateral peace and security operations to remain viable tools to address future crises and conflict, the press release said.

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 honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.