On 23 May, UNA-UK, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the United Nations Association - Westminster Branch held our annual Peacekeepers Day Conference.
For 20 years, the Peacekeepers Day Conference has been the most authoritative public review of UN peacekeeping activities - bringing together academics, practitioners, and policymakers for a conversation focused on the most pressing issues for Peacekeeping today.
This year also marked the 75th anniversary of the creation of the UN Peacekeeping - under the official theme: "Peace Begins With Me". In New York UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, commemorated this day and laid a wreath in honour of all peacekeepers who have lost their lives over the past 75 years:
“United Nations peacekeepers are the beating heart of our commitment to a more peaceful world. For 75 years, they have supported people and communities rocked by conflict and upheaval across the globe.”
This year’s conference focused on peacekeeping training, the strategic investment that allows peacekeepers and other entities, such as police and civilian personnel, to implement missions effectively.
A panel discussion, chaired by Dr Georgina Holmes, featured presentations on the challenges of peacekeeping training in the modern operating environment. Ramona Taheri, Executive Director of the Peace Operations Training Institute, Col GS Michael Freudweiler, Deputy Commander Swiss International Command (SWISSINT), and Hester Adriana Paneras, Head of Institutional and Operational Partnership Service at the United Nations Office to the African Union, shared their perspectives on the importance of partnerships to provide this learning to peacekeepers, featuring opportunities and challenges faced.
Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative, Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan joined us to deliver the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Lecture, in memory of Count Folke Bernadotte.
During the conversation, Nicholas Haysom, discussed the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (established in July 2011) and shared some historical key moments which defined the mission itself, focused on protecting civilians, monitoring human rights and supporting the implementation of cessation of hostilities agreement.
Peacekeepers' Day memorial
UNA-UK's annual memorial ceremony in remembrance of peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the service of global peace also took place two days after, on 25 May.
To commemorate their 75th anniversary, as is tradition, the ceremony was held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, with embassy representatives marching with military contingents and senior UK government officials to pay their respects to fallen peacekeepers.
Photo: UNA-UK marks UN Peacekeeper's Day at the Cenotaph in London.
