It's the one non-partisan force in the world today. Respect

The sky blue helmets and berets of the peacekeepers are a call to peace in nations torn with conflict and strife. Till date 3,500 peacekeepers have lost their lives in the line of duty.

With the United Nations preparing to mark International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 29, the world will remember the difficult and often dangerous work of UN 'Blue Helmets' deployed around the world to keep warring factions apart and bring relief to those caught in the middle of bloody conflicts.
Since the UN's first peacekeeping mission in 1948 in the aftermath of the first Arab-Israeli War, a total of 63 missions have been carried out in places ranging from the steamy jungles of the Congo and Rwanda to the barren moonscapes of Sudan and Somalia and the rugged hills of South Lebanon. Currently, the UN is involved in 16 missions.
Despite being deployed to bring conflicts to a close and prevent further bloodshed, Blue Helmets often find themselves in the line of fire. To date, more than 3,500 peacekeepers from various countries have been killed in the line of duty. In May 2017 alone, four peacekeepers died in an ambush in the Central African Republic, with another missing and eight wounded. In a separate incident, two investigators working with the UN mission in Congo were found dead after having been murdered two months prior.
"Every day, peacekeepers help bring peace and stability to war-torn societies around the world," UN Secretary General Antonio Guteress said in a statement this week.
"Their sacrifice only strengthens our commitment to ensuring that United Nations peacekeepers continue protecting civilians in harm's way, promoting human rights and the rule of law, removing landmines, advancing negotiations, and securing a better future in the places they are deployed," he added. "Now more than ever, it is essential we continue investing in peace around the world."
The largest single contributor to UN peacekeeping efforts over the last six decades has been India, which has fielded over 180,000 troops in 43 peacekeeping missions around the world, including 13 of the ones currently underway in places such as South Sudan, the Western Sahara, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo. More than 160 Indians have been killed wearing the Blue Helmet, with 35 lives lost in the last 17 years.
India's contributions to the UN's peacekeeping efforts were starkly highlighted in December 2013, when a 43-member unit of the Indian army fought to protect members of South Sudan's Dinka community from an attack by 2,000 rebels of the rival Lous Neurs tribe.
Two Indian soldiers - Subedar Dharmesh Sangwan of 8 Rajputana Rifles and Subedar Kumar Pal Singh of the Army Medical Corps - were killed in the attack, which came just months after another five Indian troops were killed in an ambush in the same area.
"As a mission, we are inspired by the dedication shown by the Indian troops," The Indian Express quoted Hilde Johnson, special representative for the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan as saying. "Had it not been for their bravery, the death toll at the (base) could have been higher."
Another major contributor has been Pakistan, which currently has more than 7,000 troops deployed to Darfur, Ivory Coast, Liberia, the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti and Western Sahara.
Among the best-known Pakistani peacekeepers is Deputy Superintendant Shahzadi Gulfam, who in 2011 was honoured with the UN's prestigious International Female Peacekeeper Award for her work in East Timor. Gulfam - a veteran of previous peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo - was widely praised for her efforts facilitating medical assistance to victims of domestic violence and reporting on missing people and human trafficking cases.
"UNPOL Shahzadi Gulfam has shown enthusiasm, diligence and zeal in her work with the Vulnerable Persons Unit in Dili (the capital of East Timor)," the UN Mission in East Timor's Police Commissioner, Luis Carillho, said at the time. "Officer Gulfam has played an exceptional role in supporting and protecting vulnerable persons."
Notably, despite tensions at home, Indian and Pakistani troops often work side-by-side as brothers-in-arms while deployed on UN peacekeeping efforts abroad, often alongside soldiers from Bangladesh, another significant contributor to UN missions.
In one notable incident that took place in 2005, an Indian Army attack helicopter flew in support of Pakistani troops who had come under fire during a cordon-and-search operation aimed at Congolese rebels who - just days earlier - had killed nine Bangladeshi soldiers. In 2008, then-UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon noted that UN peacekeeping missions often bring people from vastly different backgrounds together for a common good.
"They come from nations large and small, rich and poor, some of them countries recently afflicted by war themselves," he said. "They bring different cultures and experiences to the job, but they are united in their determination to foster peace."
With many parts of the world still suffering from armed conflict, it seems certain that the world will continue to call on Blue Helmets in increasing numbers to separate warring factions and bring in much-needed humanitarian aid.
"Each one is a hero," Ban Ki Moon added.
bernd@khaleejtimes.com
Bernd is a gizmo freak with a sweet tooth. He likes airplanes and shiny, blingy things