(UN Information Centre, Islamabad) 29 May, 2007 : To commemorate The International Day of UN Peacekeepers, the United Nations Information Centre, organised a briefing session jointly with the Standing Committee on Defence & Defence Production, Senate of Pakistan, at the Parliament House, Islamabad.
The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers (29 May) was designated by the General Assembly in its resolution 57/129 of 11 December 2002. This action stemmed to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served in United Nations 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. United Nations peacekeeping, built on almost 60 years of experience in the field, is widely acknowledged to be an indispensable tool for the international community in tackling the difficult issues of inter-State and, increasingly, intra-State conflicts.
There are currently more than 100,000 peacekeepers from 115 countries serving in 18 operations on four continents, with additional deployments on the horizon. Of the more than 100 countries that provide uniformed peacekeepers to the United Nations, the largest contributors remain Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, which together provide more than 35 per cent of all Blue Berets.
The session started with the welcome note by the Senator Nisar A. Memon, Chairman Senate, Senate Standing Committee on Defence & Defence Production. It was followed by the UN Secretary General message, read by Ms. Ishrat Rizvi, Officer in charge of the UN Information Centre, Islamabad. Major General Waheed Arshad, D.G Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in his presentation briefed the participants about the Pakistan's contributions to the peacekeeping operations. Mr. Paneerselvam Perambalam, Chief Administrative Officer of the UN Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) gave a briefing on the significance and role of the UN peacekeeping operations around the globe.
Senators of the Standing Committee on Defence & Defence Production, university students of Defence and strategic studies, youth parliamentarians, government officials, faculty members , media and members from civic society attended the session and took part in the discussion.
H E Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Minister for Defense was the chief guest. In his key note address, he highly appreciated the role of the UN peacekeeping operations and paid tribute to all the men and women who have served in United Nations 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. He also expressed his will to extend the cooperation with the United Nations in the peacekeeping operation for a sustainable peace around the world.
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