I am honoured to award the Dag Hammarskjöld medal to 103 peacekeepers who died while serving the United Nations in 2012.
I am deeply saddened to report that this marks the fifth year in a row that more than 100 peacekeepers lost their lives in the line of duty.
This International Day is always a sober occasion. This ceremony is a reminder that our decisions can have very painful consequences. The people whose memories we honour today died doing work that we asked them to do.