29 May - International Day of UN Peacekeepers
29 May 2021 News
In 2002, the UN General Assembly declared, in its resolution 57/129, 29 May as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. On this date, in 1948, the first UN peacekeeping mission in the Middle East (UNTSO-UN Truce Supervision Organization) was established to monitor the ceasefire agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbours. Since then, more than 1 million peacekeepers have served in 72 UN peacekeeping operations (PLOs, known as "Blue Helmets"), contributing to international peace and security in numerous conflict regions around the world and saving countless lives due to which have won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. The International Day of UN Peacekeepers offers an opportunity to honour the invaluable contribution of military and civilian personnel to the work of the World Organization for International Peace and Security and to honour the memory of more than 4,000 peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the service of peace since 1948.
In 2003, 11 Bulgarian peacekeepers were posthumously awarded the UN Crystal Medal - 10 Bulgarian servicemen killed in the UN Mission in Cambodia (UNTAC) between October 1992 and April 1993, and Valentin Krumov, who died on October 11, 1999, as a member of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). In the period 1992-1993, a letter of thanks was received from the President of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia and Head of State Prince Norodom Sihanouk to the President of Republic of Bulgaria Dr. Zhelyo Zhelev, and letters of thanks from the First and Second Prime Ministers of the Royal Government of Cambodia to the Prime Minister of Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Lyuben Berov for the historical contribution of Bulgaria to achieving the peace process in Cambodia - within the operation of the UN.
The theme for this year's day is "The Road to Lasting Peace: Using the influence of youth to achieve peace and security". Today, tens of thousands of young peacekeepers (aged between 18 and 29) are deployed around the world and play an important role in helping missions carry out their mandates, including protecting civilians.
Modern UN PLOs range from traditional peacekeeping missions monitoring truces to multifaceted PLOs that carry out activities to build and achieve peace sustainability. Bulgaria recognises the important role of the multifaceted UN PLOs for conflict prevention and resolution, which prioritise the protection of the civilian population, strengthening of the rule of law, achievement of police efficiency, implementation of security sector reforms, and more. At the same time, we recognise the growing role of UN special political missions as a means of conflict prevention.
In the context of the global migrant and refugee crisis, Bulgaria supports the establishment of the concept of protection of the civilian population as the most important component of multifaceted peacekeeping operations, while emphasising the need to strengthen the preventive and humanitarian aspects of human rights protection.