2 UN Indian peacekeepers to be honoured posthumously on International Peacekeepers Day  

Two Indian peacekeepers who lost their lives while serving under the UN flag last year will be honoured posthumously by the United Nations as it commemorates International Day of UN Peacekeepers this week.

Brigadier Amitabh Jha, who served with the UN Disengagement Observer Force, and Havildar Sanjay Singh, who was deployed with the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be honoured posthumously with the Dag Hammarskjold medal at a solemn ceremony here on May 29 on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, a statement said.

India is the fourth largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping.

It currently deploys more than 5,300 military and police personnel to the UN peace operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Somalia, South Sudan and Western Sahara.

During ceremonies at the world body’s headquarters to mark Peacekeepers Day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will lay a wreath to honour the more than 4,400 UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.

Guterres will also preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjold Medals will be awarded posthumously to 57 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers who lost their lives serving under the UN flag last year.

The Secretary-General will also present awards to the 2024 Military Gender Advocate of the Year, Squadron Leader Sharon Mwinsote Syme from Ghana, and the UN Woman Police Officer of the Year award to Superintendent Zainab Gbla of Sierra Leone.

Both of them serve with the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei.

Last year, Major Radhika Sen, who served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, received the prestigious ‘2023 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award’ from Guterres.

India