UN marks International Day of Peacekeepers; presents gender, police and Dag Hammarskjöld awards

The Secretary-General presided over a United Nations ceremony on May 29, 2025, honoring peacekeepers and presenting three awards: the Military Gender Advocate of the Year, the UN Women Police Officer of the Year, and the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal for fallen personnel. Squadron Leader Sharon Minsote Sime of Ghana received the Military Gender Advocate award; Chief Superintendent Zainab Gebla of Sierra Leone received the Women Police Officer award; and representatives of 58 fallen peacekeepers accepted the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal on their behalf.

The ceremony recalled the General Assembly’s designation of May 29 as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers (General Assembly resolution 57/129) and highlighted Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security as the policy framework for the gender-focused award. The Secretary-General emphasized the scale and sacrifice of peacekeeping operations and the need to adapt missions to new security challenges.

"We all pay tribute to those brave women and men who died far from home and far from their loved ones while serving humanity's most noble cause, peace," the Secretary-General said during his remarks, asking the assembly to observe a moment of silence for fallen personnel. He summarized the ceremony's purpose as honoring service and renewing commitments to protect and support peacekeepers.

Organizers said the Military Gender Advocate award, established in 2016, recognizes military peacekeepers who integrate the women, peace and security agenda into planning and operations. This year 17 military nominees from eight field missions were considered; the winner served as the military gender adviser at UNISFA force headquarters in Abiye/Abay town and was commended for integrating gender perspectives into military planning and for community health campaigns addressing gender-based violence and child marriage.

In accepting the award, Squadron Leader Sharon Minsote Sime said, "With gratitude and humility, I accept the 2024 United Nations military gender advocate award," and described training and outreach work she led in coordination with medical personnel and gender advisers to reduce harmful practices and to establish military gender focal points across planning branches.

The UN Women Police Officer of the Year award, established in 2011, recognizes contributions by women police officers in UN peace operations. Chief Superintendent Zainab Gebla was cited for initiating community programs in a mission area without a national police service: she helped start a school program, provided educational materials for children, set up mentorships for girls, created income-generation projects for women, and trained police in subjects meant to strengthen the rule of law and reporting channels for crimes against children. On receipt of the award she described starting classes for children aged 3 to 18 and called community protection committees key partners in sustaining these efforts.

The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal, instituted by the United Nations in 1997, was presented to representatives of 58 uniformed peacekeepers who died while serving under the UN flag. The Secretary-General and other officials read the names of the fallen and asked permanent representatives or designated officials to accept the medal and sign a condolence book.

Speakers at the ceremony included the Secretary-General; the Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, who said the Department of Operational Support and the Department of Peace Operations are increasing access to training, equipment and emergency medical care for personnel; and the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, who noted more than 2 million people have served in UN peace operations since 1948 and that more than 4,400 peacekeepers have lost their lives in service.

The event also highlighted recent ministerial support for peacekeeping reform: officials noted renewed pledges and commitments from member states, referenced the Action for Peacekeeping (A4P) initiative and a review of UN peace operations meant to adapt missions to evolving threats such as terrorism, transnational crime and misinformation. Organizers said about 75,000 personnel from 121 countries currently serve across 11 UN operations.

The ceremony closed after the playing of the Last Post and formal departures of the Secretary-General and senior officials.