[Introduction]
Good morning, ladies and gentleman. It is my sincere pleasure to be with you this morning, along with Under-Secretary-General Ameerah Haq to share our perspectives and hear from you on the key challenges and opportunities before UN peacekeeping today.
Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq: USG Ladsous is here to brief on a range of peacekeeping activities. He will make a short statement first and then we will take your questions after which we will do the second part of the briefing following his presentation. Under-Secretary-General Ladsous, welcome.
Opening Remarks:
Thank you very much and good morning, or afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Statement of Ameerah Haq
UN Under-Secretary-General for Field Support
Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference
9 September
Auckland
Major General Gawn, General Odierno, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to be here in Auckland with you at the Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference.
Assalam Alaikum.
May ya haan aakar bahut khush hoon! [I am so happy to be here.]
It is a great honour and privilege for me on the occasion of my visit to Pakistan to participate in the inauguration ceremony for this Centre for International Peace and Stability – and it is a privilege to do so on the eve of your country’s Independence Day tomorrow.
I sense great confidence and hope here today.
I have seen the bravery of Chinese blue helmets helping struggling communities around the world.
China provides more peacekeepers to the United Nations than all of the four other permanent members combined. I applaud this solidarity.
A total of 14 Chinese have lost their lives in the service of peacekeeping. We will carry on their legacy by pursuing their noble work for peace.
Today I would like to discuss three major challenges in peacekeeping:
For UN Peacekeepers, new means for changing times By Hervé Ladsous* The history of United Nations peacekeeping is one of innovation and adaptation. Until some twenty years ago, UN peacekeeping seemed a more straightforward affair. Blue Helmets were deployed to monitor ceasefires – usually between warring countries. Their role was clear: they observed, reported breaches and facilitated solutions.
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.
Please join me in observing a moment of silence in honour of all peacekeeping officers who have lost their lives while serving the United Nations.
Thank you.
Today we honour the 111 heroes who died last year while serving under the United Nations flag. We also pay tribute to the nearly 3,000 others who have fallen in the line of duty since the first peacekeepers deployed 65 years ago. I offer my deepest sympathies and profoundest condolences to their families.
We are working hard to improve safety for our personnel around the world.
United Nations peacekeepers must be constantly equipped with more and better tools and skills so they could fully meet their mandates in increasingly risky environments, Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said at Headquarters today.
