The United Nations Friday paid tribute to the nearly 4,500 peacekeepers, including 183 Pakistanis, who have died in the line of duty since 1948 during a solemn wreath-laying and medal ceremony.
The ceremony-held to mark the annual International Day of UN Peacekeepers-was held at UN Headquarters in New York.
Pakistan, one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping operations, was represented at the dignified event by Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad.
The commemoration came hours after another blue helmet serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) died from injuries sustained in a mortar attack, as hostilities continue between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters.
The day began with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres laying a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial on the Secretariat grounds before presiding over a solemn ceremony in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) attended by senior officials, the diplomatic community, and bereaved family members and colleagues.
“Unfortunately, as events of this very week remind us, peacekeepers continue to face peril in the cause of peace – and we pay the highest tribute to their service and sacrifice,” the UN chief said.
The Secretary-General posthumously bestowed the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal on 68 peacekeepers from 33 nations, including 59 who paid the ultimate price last year. Their photos were displayed on a screen and their names read out as country representatives accepted the boxed medals.
“They represent the best of humanity – people prepared to risk everything to keep others safe,” he said.
Two peacekeepers were rewarded for their bravery, receiving the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage – named after a Senegalese military officer killed in Rwanda in 1994.
Sergeant Matias Reyes of Uruguay saved lives serving under the UN flag in the restive eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in January 2025. The Ebola outbreak there prevented him from traveling to New York.
The other recipient, Sergii Prykhodko of Ukraine – a private contractor with a helicopter crew at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) – sacrificed his life during a dangerous mission to evacuate besieged soldiers in March 2025.
More than 50,000 peacekeepers, including 2,100 Pakistanis, are currently deployed across the globe where their mandated tasks include protecting civilians, supporting elections, delivering humanitarian assistance and clearing landmines.
“The courage we recognize this morning is not abstract,” said the head of UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. “It is lived every day by peacekeepers serving in some of the world’s most dangerous and difficult environments.”
The peacekeeper killed in southern Lebanon on Thursday, Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic of Serbia, was the seventh UNIFIL blue helmet cut down since hostilities escalated in March.
Lacroix said this was his first peacekeeping deployment, having arrived in the country in January, and he would have turned 37 on Saturday. He highlighted how peacekeepers are working in increasingly complex environments marked by rising geopolitical tensions, fragmented conflicts, disinformation, rapidly evolving technologies and growing pressure on multilateral cooperation.
At the same time, Lacroix said peacekeeping operations face serious financial constraints resulting from delayed and incomplete payment of mandatory contributions.
The consequences include forced reductions in patrols and air operations, delayed infrastructure projects, and limited support to local communities. Meanwhile, expectations continue to grow.
“And yet, peacekeepers continue to deliver,” he said.
Lacroix stressed the importance of continued investment in peace, including “ensuring that peacekeepers have the political backing, resources, training and capabilities required to carry out the mandates entrusted to them by Member States.”
During the ceremony, the UN also celebrated two trailblazing women peacekeepers.
Major Abhilasha Barak of India, deployed with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), received the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.
Inspector Stephanie Konigs of Germany, who served at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), received the 2025 Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.