The
first UN peacekeeping mission was established
on 29 May 1948, when the Security Council
authorized the deployment of a small number
of UN military observers to the Middle East
to form the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization (UNTSO) to monitor the Armistice
Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Le
forze di pace delle Nazioni Unite sono una
forza composta da oltre 113.000 persone, tra
forze di polizia e civili. Creato da 125 paesi
e attualmente al servizio di 14 missioni in
tutto il mondo, sono impiegate per proteggere
e prendersi cura dei civili, garantire il
mantenimento del cessate il fuoco, proteggere
i diritti umani, le norme di legge e sostenere
una democrazia libera ed equa. Lavorano instancabilmente
per assicurarsi anche che le voci delle donne
siano ascoltate e crescano nella vita civile,
militare e politica.
Over
seven decades, more than one million men and
women have served under the United Nations
flag in 71 peacekeeping operations, directly
impacting the lives of hundreds of millions
of people, protecting the world’s most
vulnerable and saving countless lives. Our
peacekeepers make immense sacrifices, often
serving at great personal risk and under challenging
conditions. The families of peacekeepers and
their governments share this sacrifice.
From Sierra Leone
to Cambodia, Timor Leste, Namibia, El Salvador
and elsewhere, United Nations Peacekeeping
has helped countries transition from war to
peace. The United Nations Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL) successfully completed its mandate
in March this year, becoming the 57th UN peacekeeping
operation to do so. The closure of UNMIL also
ended more than two decades of UN Peacekeeping
in West Africa’s Mano River Basin.
Today, UN peacekeeping
deploys more than 100,000 military, police
and civilian personnel in 14 peacekeeping
operations on four continents. Currently,
UN peacekeeping operations receive contributions
of military and police personnel from 124
Member States as well as critical equipment
that sustain our operations. Peacekeeping
is truly a global partnership and this number
reflects strong global confidence in the value
of the UN’s flagship enterprise. Peacekeeping
has also proven to be a solid investment in
global peace, security, and prosperity. Despite
the size and breadth of its operations, at
just under $7 billion a year, peacekeeping’s
annual budget remains less than on half of
one percent of global military spending.
UN peacekeeping
is a flexible, evolving instrument that brings
together political, security and technical
tools at its disposal to assist countries
make the difficult transition from conflict
to peace. In March this year, the Secretary-General
launched a new initiative, “Action for
Peacekeeping,” aimed at improving performance
and ensuring peacekeeping operations are fit
for purpose in the face of ever more complex
and dangerous theatres of operation. The initiative
calls on Member States, the Security Council
and troop- and police- contributing countries
for a refocusing of peacekeeping with realistic
expectations, mobilizing greater support for
political solutions and, making peacekeeping
missions stronger and safer by deploying well-equipped
and well-trained forces, including more women
to our operations.
While
the International Day of United Nations Peacekeeper’s
Day is 29 May, UN Headquarters in New York
will celebrate it this year on 1 June. The
Secretary-General will preside over a wreath-laying
ceremony in honour of all peacekeepers who
have lost their lives while serving under
the UN flag. In addition, the Dag Hammarskjöld
Medal will be awarded posthumously to the
peacekeepers who died in 2017 while serving
in the cause of peace.
(UN Photo - Credit:
Italia News Press Agency)
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