Four Indian peacekeepers and a civilian, who laid down their lives while serving in the U.N. peacekeeping operations last year, will be honoured along with other 124 personnel with a prestigious U.N. medal awarded posthumously for their courage and sacrifice.

The fallen Indian peacekeepers who will be honoured with the Dag Hammarskjold Medal on the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers are Head Constable Shubhkaran Yadav, Rifleman Manish Malik, Havildar Amal Deka, Naik Rakesh Kumar and Gagan Punjabi.

About the Medal

The Dag Hammarskjold Medal was established in December 2000 and is awarded posthumously to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the U.N.

The medal is named after the second U.N. Secretary-General, who had died in a mysterious 1961 plane crash. He was posthumously awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in the year he died.

About the Day

The International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002, in tribute to all men and women serving in peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

The General Assembly had designated May 29 as the commemoration day because it was on that date in 1948 when the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the world body’s first peacekeeping mission, began operations in Palestine.

Since the first U.N. peacekeeping mission in 1948 until April 2016, 3,400 military, police and civilian personnel have lost their lives in the service of peace as a result of acts of violence, accidents and disease.

Commemorative activities will be held at the world body’s headquarters here and at peacekeeping operations and offices around the world.