INTERNATIONAL DAY OF UN PEACEKEEPERS 2022: May 29 marks the International Day of UN (United Nations) Peacekeepers. This day is observed to recognise the service and sacrifice of the more than one million personnel who have served under the blue flag since 1948.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers also offers a chance to honour around 4,200 peacekeepers who lost their lives serving under the UN flag since, including 135 who lost the battle last year. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that this year, the focus is on the Power of Partnerships.
The Secretary-General stated peace is won when governments and societies join forces to resolve differences through dialogue, and build a culture of nonviolence, to protect the most vulnerable.
Therefore, the theme for this year’s International Day of UN Peacekeepers is “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.”
Peacekeeping is one of the many tools used by the United Nations to secure global peace and security. UN Peacekeepers is a collective enterprise, which aims to change lives for the better.
In the pursuit of peace, this wing is assisted by other UN entities, humanitarians, the communities we serve, women and youth, media, academia, traditional and faith-based leaders, host governments, Troop and Police Contributing Countries, Member States, and many others.
In 2021, peacekeepers faced unprecedented challenges and threats. They had to deal not only with the COVID-19 pandemic, but also with the need to continue to support and protect civilian populations, in the countries they were deployed in.
The first UN peacekeeping mission was established on 1948, May 29 when the Security Council deployed a small number of UN military observers to the Middle East to form the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) with the objective to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Since 1948, more than 1 million people have served in the UN peacekeeping operations, which were 72 in number.
