Nigerian female peacekeeper, others get UNs medals
News & Trends •
and for any person who would want to join minusma you should have at the back of your mind that when you are coming it is to support the peace process1 cdr. olufunmilayo amodu serving with the un stabilisation mission in mali minusma has been decorated with medal for her outstanding service1 the un will also honour three fallen nigerian peacekeepers on june 1 at the un headquarters in new york1 they are lt. col. ali suleiman who served with the un organisation stabilisation mission in the democratic republic of the congo1 others are warrant officer remmy amakwe who was deployed with the african unionunited nations mission in darfur and mr kolawole shogaolu who served in a civilian capacity in the un multidimensional integrated stabilisation mission in mali1 nan reports that the honour is an acknowledgement of the contribution of nigeria to un peacekeeping operations to ensure global peace and security1 the decoration was part of activities to honour the service and sacrifice of peacekeepers around the world to mark the 2018 international day of un peacekeepers1 guterres also awarded a medal to appreciate the outstanding service of maj. mohammad khan from bangladesh a military staff officer based at minusma force headquarters1 speaking after receiving the award amodu said the medal is very important. it symbolises what it is to be a peacekeeper at minusma. receiving it from the secretary-general is a very unique privilege1 the terrorists are not relenting in what they are doing. and obviously we are not backing out in what we have come to do she added underscoring the worrying security situation in mali1 she further said the un is all about peace. and when there is peace there is development1 when there is peace there is promotion of technology. when there is peace every other thing works the way it should work1 she was decorated with the medal by the un secretary-general antonio guterres on tuesday1 nan reports that more than one million men and women have served under the un flag saving countless lives just as over 3700 blue helmets have paid the ultimate price over the past seven decades1 troops with the mission have increasingly become the target of attacks1 meanwhile guterres attended a ceremony at minusmas base in bamako where he paid tribute to fallen peacekeepers and laid a wreath at the memorial inside the camp engraved with the names of those killed in the service of peace1 dear peacekeepers you have demonstrated that you are capable of all forms of sacrifice. for many of your colleagues this has meant the supreme sacrifice of giving their lives to protect the lives of malian civilians1 i want to thank you very much for this effort these sacrifices to pay tribute to you and to say how proud i am to work with you1 as peacekeepers you are the foremost symbol of the united nations itself guterres said1 also mahamat annadif the special representative of the secretary-general in mali and head of minusma said that honouring the fallen warms the hearts of their comrades and encourages us to continue to defend even more resolutely the values of the united nations1 guterres was accompanied on his visit to mali by under secretary-general for field support atul khare head of un peacekeeping operations jean-pierre lacroix and the executive director of un childrens fund henrietta fore1 he was received at the airport by malian president ibrahim keita1 he was also scheduled to meet with keita and other malian officials as well as un officials working in the country1 un has declared the north-west african country as the most dangerous place in the world to be a blue helmet as 21 troops and seven civilians serving with minusma died in 2017. nan1