By: Agency Report on May 30, 2013 - 3:07pm
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on Wednesday paid tribute to persons serving in peacekeeping operations who lost their lives in the past year.
The UN Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the UN honoured 111 peacekeeping personnel who died in 2012.
The UN also paid tribute to 3,000 others who had fallen in the line of duty since the first peacekeepers deployed 65 years ago.
The action was part of activities to commemorate the ``International Day of UN Peacekeepers’’ which is observed annually on May 29.
``We are working hard to improve safety for our personnel around the world, but peacekeeping is inherently dangerous and the risks are growing,” Ban said during a wreath-laying ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York.
Ban said last year, UN personnel were killed during attacks on patrols in Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and South Sudan.
According to him, in the coming months, members of the UN intervention brigade will arrive in the eastern DRC while the UN will field a new operation in Mali, where terrorism poses a real threat.
``Acts of violence received the most attention, but they are not the only threat to our personnel. Many of our fallen colleagues died from diseases. Others lost their lives in car accidents on dangerous roads in undeveloped areas.
``Whatever the cause of death, we honour all fallen peacekeepers for their sacrifice, courage and selfless service on behalf of the United Nations.
``While peacekeeping is fraught with risk, it is also filled with promise, our blue helmets bring hope to millions of people in some of the most troubled parts of the world,’’ he added.
The Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Herve Ladsous, said that peacekeeping constantly needed better tools and skills to meet new challenges.
``We must make sure that the missions are given whatever is necessary for them to fulfil their mandates in sometimes increasingly high-risk environments.”
He gave an example of the new tools being used as the deployment of unarmed aerial vehicles (UAVs) in eastern DRC which would take place in a few months.
``This will be very important to improve the awareness of the situation by our troops on the ground and also to deter some spoilers perhaps from doing what they intend to do,” Ladsous said.
Ameerah Haq, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, said the UN was also seeking to improve the way of supporting its missions on the field.
``We are adapting not only to new challenges, but we are also adapting to larger mandates that are being given to the peacekeeping and the political missions,” Haq said.
According to Haq, her recent visit to Mali is a “stark reminder” of the challenges the UN is facing in setting up a new operation.
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