As the world celebrates the International Day of Peacekeepers on Thursday, the United Nations is commemorating the soldiers who have lost their lives since the first peacekeeping mission in 1948. Thus, the Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres will lay wreath in honor of more than 4,000 peacekeepers and will also preside a ceremony for the presentation of the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal, awarded posthumously to the 129 military, police and civilian personnel who lost their lives in 2020 and earlier this year. According to UN Morocco, Master Corporal Rachid Lamzaatar, who died on January 18, 2021 in the Central African Republic, is among the soldiers who will posthumously receive the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal. He «served in the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)», recalls UN Morocco. The kingdom is the 12th largest contributor of uniformed personnel to United Nations peacekeeping operations. "Journée Internationale des Casques Bleus: ?️Jeudi 27 juin 2021 Un soldat marocain de la paix parmi ceux qui seront honorés à titre posthume de la medaille Dag Hammarskjöld " https://t.co/QFovlWjatk @UNPeacekeeping @Morocco_UN @MoroccanArmed pic.twitter.com/hswB9DFsoI — Nations Unies Maroc ???? (@ONUMaroc) May 25, 2021 «It currently deploys more than 1,700 soldiers and police in UN operations in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan», said the same source. The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002 to honor all men and women serving in UN peacekeeping operations and to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives for the cause of peace. May 29 was chosen because it coincided with the first UN peacekeeping mission - UNUST – which began operations in Palestine in 1948.
