Pakistan is one of the longest-serving and largest contributors to United Nations Peacekeeping for decades.
Six Pakistanis were among 117 UN peacekeepers who got UN medals of courage for sacrificing their lives for the cause of peace.
Tahir Ikram, Tahir Mehmood, Mohammed Naeem, Adil Jan, and Mohammed Shafiq, five of the six were from the armed forces. While the sixth, Ibrar Syed, was a civilian.
At the UN Headquarters, Secretary-General António Guterres laid a wreath to honor the nearly 4,200 United Nations peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.
And later, he presided over a ceremony at which 117 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers got Dag Hammarskjöld Medals of Courage. It includes six Pakistanis, who lost their lives serving under the United Nations flag in 2021.
Captain Abdelrazakh Hamit Bahar of Chad posthumously received the “Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage”. Major Winnet Zaharare of Zimbabwe received the Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award. Because he is a champion of gender equality.
Pakistan is one of the longest-serving and largest contributors to UN Peacekeeping for decades. Since joining the United Nations on Sept 30, 1947, Pakistan has participated in 70 UN peacekeeping missions across the globe.
The Pakistan armed forces are the third-largest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping efforts, behind India and Ethiopia.
“We committed ourselves to help the vulnerable communities affected by conflict. And we will continue to adapt to the changing environment and needs of the peacekeeping operations,”. Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram said.
They recognized the sacrifices of the six Pakistanis who lost their lives in 2021. Ambassador Akram said: “We share the grief of their families. As a result, we will never forget these heroes who won respect and recognition for their homeland.”
The UN secretary-general recalled that more than 1M women and men had served as UN peacekeepers since 1948. “We are reminded of an age-old truth: peace can never be taken for granted. Peace is the prize,” he said.
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