DAG HAMMARSKJOLD MEDAL WILL REMIND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF SENSE OF DUTY, BRAVERY AND SACRIFICE OF UN PEACE-KEEPERS, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Release
SG/SM/6288
SC/6399
DAG HAMMARSKJOLD MEDAL WILL REMIND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF SENSE OF DUTY, BRAVERY AND SACRIFICE OF UN PEACE-KEEPERS, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970722 Kofi Annan Tells Security Council Medal Will Also Honour Memory of Former Secretary-General Who Lost 'Life in the Cause of Peace'Following is the statement of Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the occasion of discussions on the Dag Hammarskjold Medal resolution in the Security Council today:
I welcome this resolution. It provides a clear, focused and systematic way of honouring fully the memory of those women and men, military and civilian, including United Nations volunteers, who have lost their lives in the service of peace, on United Nations peace-keeping operations. If anything, this recognition of their valour and sacrifice, in the light of the ever-greater challenges that peace-keepers face, is overdue. Since the Blue Helmets were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988, there have been qualitative and quantitative changes in United Nations peace-keeping. In 1988, five United Nations peace-keeping operations were in existence. Four of them related to inter-State wars, while one concerned an intra-State conflict. Over the next four years, 21 new operations were established, eight dealing with inter-State wars, and 13 related to intra-State conflicts. United Nations peace-keepers were called upon to perform new tasks. They were put in situations where there was no peace to keep. They were confronted by a broader and greater range of risks. They carried out their work with sensitivity and bravery, but their efforts were not always fully acknowledged. There were setbacks. Some people were quick to criticize. The shrill voices of those who sat in their armchairs and did nothing else but complain that the peace-keepers were not doing enough, became familiar. More than 750,000 women and men -- military, police and civilians -- from 110 countries have taken part in United Nations peace-keeping over the years. The Dag Hammarskjold Medal will honour the lives of all those -- more than 1,500 -- who went to distant lands in search of peace and paid the ultimate price while serving under the United Nations flag. It will remind us of the sense of duty, bravery and sacrifice of those women and men. And it will honour, too, the memory of a Secretary-General who himself lost his life in the cause of peace.
* *** *