International Day of Peacekeepers
People are always in need of lasting stability and peace, so peacekeeping operations have helped in preserving countless lives, as well as establishing peace and stability to many countries over the decades.
But UN peacekeeping operations alone cannot succeed in creating the conditions necessary to end conflict and secure permanent political solutions. Its partnerships with Member States, civil society institutions, NGOs, UN agencies and other parties are essential to achieve tangible improvements in the lives of the public, in areas such as: economic development, rule of law, women's rights, human rights, and access to health and education services.
On May 29 each year, the United Nations General Assembly, in its resolution 57/129, acknowledged the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. On this day in 1948, the first United Nations peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision Mission, was established, which began its operations in the Middle East.
Since the establishment of the first peacekeeping mission, UN offices have celebrated, with the participation of Member States and NGOs, the memory of fallen peacekeepers. UN peacekeeping is a unique, dynamic, and constantly evolving tool to help countries torn by conflict build the conditions for lasting peace. Egypt's contribution to the peacekeeping forces stems from the pivotal and pioneering role of the Egyptian state, and its keenness to support peace and security efforts all over the world through participation in United Nations peacekeeping missions with highly qualified forces.
Egypt is one of the largest troop contributors to the UN peacekeeping missions, as it is among the top ten most contributing countries to peacekeeping forces in the world, the first in the Arab world and the third at the level of the Francophone countries.
The most prominent features of the Egyptian role in UN peacekeeping operations:
- Egypt is the third largest country in the world that contributes police forces to peacekeeping operations.
- Egypt is the third largest country in the world that contributes military experts to peacekeeping operations.
- Egypt is the seventh largest country that contributes military forces to peacekeeping missions with its military, police and civilian components.
- Egypt contributes troops to UN peacekeeping missions in 6 countries.
- The information center listed the countries in which Egypt participates in peacekeeping operations, which are Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African State, Western Sahara, the hybrid mission in Darfur, and the State of South Sudan.
On this day, we pay tribute to the professionalism, dedication and courage of the men and women serving in peacekeeping operations, and we honor the memory of those who lost their lives in the cause of peace.
Today's world needs peace and stability.
