29 May marks the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. On this day, the United Nations honours the more than one million men and women who have served under the UN flag with pride, distinction and courage since the first deployment in 1948. We also pay tribute to more than 3,800 peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the service of peace, including 119 fallen peacekeepers who will be awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal this year.

The General Assembly chose 29 May, as it was on this day in 1948 that the Security Council established the first UN peacekeeping operation, the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in the Middle East. The international day was adopted in 2002 in resolution 57/129. Today, more than 88,000 troops and police from 124 countries, joined by nearly 14,000 civilians, are deployed to UN peacekeeping around the world. We thank them for their service and sacrifice.