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Press
Release..............................
UNESCAP News Services
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26 May 2003
Information Note: N/11/2003
UN Peacekeepers get their day
First International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
to be observed on 29 May 2003
Bangkok (UN Information Services) - The first
International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers will be observed
on Thursday, 29 May 2003, following its establishment by the
General Assembly, in resolution 57/129, last year. The Day is
intended to pay tribute "to all the men and women who have
served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations,
as well as to honor the memory of those who have lost their
lives in the cause of peace".
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in collaboration with Supreme
Command Headquarters, the Peace Operations Center of the Royal
Thai Armed Forces, will mark the event with a flag-raising ceremony
at the United Nations Conference Centre at 08:30 a.m.
The ceremony will also celebrate the valuable
contribution the countries of Asia and the Pacific have made
to peacekeeping efforts since operations began in 1948. Bangladesh,
India and Pakistan have some of the highest numbers of military
observers, civilian police and troops currently involved in
UN peacekeeping missions. And, despite its limited resources,
the small island nation of Fiji has taken part in virtually
every UN peacekeeping operation.
H.E. General Prem Tinsulanonda, President of the
Privy Council, will be the Guest of Honor to open the ceremony.
The event will be highlighted by a guest panel, including General
Boonsrang Niumpradit, Director of the Office of Policy and Planning,
discussing the topic of Peace Makers and Peace Builders.
The date, 29 May, was chosen as International
Peacekeeping Day because on that day in 1948 the first United
Nations peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision
Organization (UNTSO), began operations with a group of unarmed
military observers in Palestine. UN peacekeepers won the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1988.
As this Day is being observed around the world,
more than 40,000 peacekeepers are fulfilling roles as military
observers, trainers and disarmament experts, civilian police,
civil administrators, judges and prosecutors, economists, human
rights and humanitarian workers. Others perform the more traditional
peacekeeping functions of monitoring ceasefires and buffer zones,
in 14 missions on three continents. Since operations began in
1948, more than eighteen hundred peacekeepers have lost their
lives in the line of duty.
In a videotaped message to be broadcast to peacekeepers,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized that the mission of
United Nations peacekeeping remains vital. While "peacekeeping
by itself cannot end a war ... it can prevent a recurrence of
fighting. Above all, it gives time and space for conflict resolution.
It gives peace a chance".
You or your representatives are cordially invited
to attend the First International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers
observance on Thursday, 29 May 2003, from 8:30 a.m. - noon in
Conference Room 1, United Nations Conference Centre, Rajdamnern
Nok Avenue, Bangkok.
For further information, please contact United
Nations Information Services, UNESCAP, United Nations Building,
Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. Tel: (+66) 02
288 1864-9, Fax: (66-2) 288 1052, E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org
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