ISLAMABAD: The United Nations will honour two Pakistani peacekeepers posthumously at a ceremony at its headquarters on Thursday on the occasion of ‘International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers’ being observed on May 29.

Among the peacekeepers to be honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal the two Pakistanis are: Sepoy Muhammad Tarique and Havildar Ahsan Ullah Khan - both served with UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

During the ceremonies, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will lay a wreath to honour more than 4,400 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948. He will also preside over a ceremony in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, at which Dag Hammarskjöld Medals will be awarded posthumously to 57 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, who lost their lives serving under the UN flag last year.

Pakistan is the fifth largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping. It currently deploys more than 2,800 military and police personnel to the UN peace operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Congo, Cyprus, Somalia, South Sudan and Western Sahara. Peacekeeping is one of the most effective tools available to the United Nations in the promotion and maintenance of international peace and security.

Since 1948, when the historic decision was made to deploy military observers to the Middle East to supervise the implementation of Israel-Arab Armistice Agreements, in what became the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, more than two million peacekeepers have served in 71 operations around the world.

Today, some 68,000 women and men serve as military, police and civilian personnel in 11 conflict zones across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. 119 countries currently contribute uniformed personnel.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2025