Dag Hammarskjold medal

About Dag Hammarskjold medal: 

• It was established in 1997 and it is the highest honour awarded to UN peacekeepers.
• It is a posthumous award given to members of peacekeeping operations who lost their lives during service with a peacekeeping operation under the operational control and authority of the United Nations.
• Each year on Peacekeeper's Day, this medal is awarded to any Member State who has lost one or more military or police peacekeepers at a ceremony at United Nation’s headquarters.
• It is named after the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold.

Other UN Awards

• Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage : It is awarded to those military, police, civilian United Nations personnel and associated personnel who demonstrate exceptional courage, in the face of extreme danger, while fulfilling the mandate of their missions or their functions, in the service of humanity and the United Nations.
• UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award: It was started in 2016 to recognises the dedication and effort of an individual peacekeeper in promoting the principles within the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.

India and UN Peacekeeping

• India is the second largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping.
• It currently deploys more than 6,000 military and police personnel to the UN operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, the Middle East, Somalia, South Sudan, and Western Sahara.

Q1. What is the United Nations (UN)?

It is an intergovernmental organization that was established with the purpose of promoting international cooperation and maintaining peace and security among its member states.

Source: Indian peacekeeper to be honoured posthumously with prestigious U.N. medal for sacrifice in line of duty