Posthumous UN award for Ghanaian Peacekeeper

The United Nations today ( May 19,2016) gave its highest posthumous award to Bombardier Godfred Agyemang of the Ghana Armed Forces who perished whilst serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia(UNMIL) on November 27, last year .

The late Bdr. Agyeman was among 129 men and women, who lost their lives last year while serving under the United Nations flag. Each of them was posthumously honored with the Dag Hammarskjold Medal.

These brave personnel from 50 countries, made up military, police, civilians and UN Volunteers were either killed in malicious attacks, died in accidents or fell to diseases.

At the medals ceremony held at the UN headquarters in New York, the Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon described all of them as "heroes and heroines who we will never forget. They were not supporting peace in the abstract – they were in the arena. They lost their lives doing critical work in some of the most dangerous and difficult places on earth".

"Just yesterday, five of our peacekeepers were killed in Mali when their convoy hit an improvised explosive device. My heart goes out to their families. I also send my best wishes for the speedy recovery of the injured.

"There will always be risks – but the peacekeeping community – Member States, the UN Secretariat and the Peacekeeping Operations -- must all join forces to make the Blue Helmets' invaluable work in these hazardous locations as safe as possible. We owe this to the women and men who risk their lives to fulfill our mandates. Today, I offer my sincerest condolences to their loved ones and my highest tribute to their memory", Mr. Ban Ki-Moon stated.

The Secretary General recalled that his predecessor Dag Hammarskjöld set the gold standard for what an international civil servant and peacemaker should be, saying that "He died himself a hero's death while on a mission of peace. This fact still resonates throughout the United Nations and around the world".

Quoting from Dag Hammarskjöld's writings on teamwork, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon said that we will only fully contribute when we "develop within ourselves, and in our relations with others, a sense of belonging" adding that the United Nations staff are often called a family. We share that sense of belonging and the collective will to act.

The Secretary-General reiterated that peacekeeping remains the flagship of the United Nations enterprise, pointing out that the more than 124,000 people who serve in UN's operations, –– demonstrated how much the international community continued to depend on those in the Blue Helmets.

"With such large numbers of peacekeepers deployed in such dangerous areas, the risk of fatalities is extremely high", he noted and expressed his condolences to all those who have lost their loved ones in the line of duty.