The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is being commemorated on Saturday. The second observance of the day comes at a moment of increased demands around the world for United Nations peacekeepers.
The annual observance of a day honouring United Nations peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002.
The day is intended to pay tributes "to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations, as well as to honour the memory of those who lost their lives in the cause of peace".
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan in his message said that the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was to commemorate more than half a century of dedication and sacrifice by peacekeepers serving under the UN's blue flag around the world to build confidence, reconcile warring parties and relieve sufferings.
In Liberia and Sierra Leone, peacekeepers are disarming, demobilising and reintegrating former combatants from two brutal civil wars.
In Western Sahara, they have helped in organising the first contact between some refugees and their families in nearly 30 years. Peacekeeping missions can never end wars by themselves. But they do offer the best possible way of ensuring a sustainable peace.
On the International Day for UN Peacekeepers, let us remember that the most expensive peacekeeping operation costs far less than the cheapest war, he said.
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