New York, 17 May 2023: Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, thanked Australia for its support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military personnel deployed under the UN flag.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping. Since 1948, more than two million men and women have served in 71 UN peacekeeping missions, of which 12 are still active today, making a tangible difference to the lives of millions of people caught up in conflict.
Australia was among the earliest contributors to UN operations. It first deployed military personnel in 1950 to the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). Since then, it has participated in more than two dozen UN peace operations.
Currently, 26 uniformed personnel from Australia, including ten women, are deployed to three UN peace operations. Fourteen Australians serve in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), with uniformed personnel also participating in the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). In recent years, Australian women leaders have also played a key role in the UN peacekeeping missions, for instance in Cyprus.
“Australia has been a steadfast supporter of UN Peacekeeping for more than seven decades. I am grateful to Australia for its commitment to effective global cooperation, and its support to overall efforts to improving our effectiveness, including during its tenure in the Security Council in 2013-2014. As we continue to make every effort to prevent conflict and build peace, I look forward to further strengthening our peacekeeping partnership with Australia,” said Mr. Lacroix.
“Being a peacekeeper is a noble calling. The UN will never forget the brave 10 Australian peacekeepers who paid the ultimate price in the name of peace,” he added.
Australia endorsed the Secretary-General’s ‘Action for Peacekeeping’ (A4P) initiative, which aims to strengthen peacekeeping through more targeted mandates, stronger and safer operations, better equipped and trained forces, and by mobilizing support for political solutions.
Note to editors:
The UN's Department of Global Communications runs the international multi-year communications campaign titled 'UN Peacekeeping -- Service and Sacrifice.' The campaign expresses the world body's gratitude to the countries that contribute their uniformed men and women to serve in the peacekeeping missions. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/service-and-sacrifice
Action for Peacekeeping: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p
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