New York, 29 March 2023: Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, thanked Mexico for its support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military and police personnel deployed around the world under the UN flag.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping. The Security Council established the first peacekeeping mission - the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in the Middle East - on 29 May 1948. Since then, more than two million men and women have served in 71 UN peacekeeping missions, of which 12 are still active today, making a tangible difference in the lives of millions of people affected by conflict.
Mexico’s first major contribution to UN peacekeeping was in 1992, when it deployed more than 100 police to the UN Observer Mission in El Salvador (ONUSAL). In 2015, Mexico deployed uniformed personnel to the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and has since participated in 10 UN peace operations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Mexico currently contributes 23 uniformed personnel, including eight women, to four UN peacekeeping operations. Mexico’s largest contribution is to the United Nations Integrated Multidimensional Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), where nine personnel serve, along with others in UN operations in the Central African Republic, Colombia, Western Sahara and India-Pakistan.
“Mexico’s contributions to UN peacekeeping over the years testifies to its strong commitment to preserving peace and building a better world. I look forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership in the years ahead. We are grateful to peacekeepers from Mexico, who serve with distinction and courage often in complex environments, and I thank them for their service and sacrifice,” said Mr. Lacroix.
Mexico is one of more than 100 UN Member States that have had one peacekeeper lose their life while serving under the UN flag.
Mexico also endorsed the Secretary-General’s ‘Action for Peacekeeping (A4P)’ initiative, which aims to strengthen peacekeeping through more targeted mandates, stronger and safer operations, better equipped and trained forces, and by mobilizing support for political solutions.
Note to editors:
The UN's Department of Global Communications runs the international multi-year communications campaign titled 'UN Peacekeeping -- Service and Sacrifice.' The campaign expresses the world body's gratitude to the countries that contribute their uniformed men and women to serve in the peacekeeping missions. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/service-and-sacrifice
Since 1948, more than a million women and men have served as UN peacekeepers. Every day, they make a tangible difference in the lives of millions of the world’s most vulnerable people, and every day they save lives. Peacekeeping is a unique force with military and police personnel from over 120 countries serving together, alongside civilian colleagues. UN peacekeepers come from diverse cultures and speak different languages, but share a common purpose: the protection of vulnerable communities and the provision of support to countries struggling to move from conflict to peace. Tragically some make the ultimate sacrifice - over 3,500 peacekeepers have lost their lives in the cause of peace. https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/whatis-peacekeeping
Action for Peacekeeping: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p
Media enquiries at UNHQ
Douglas Coffman, Department of Global Communications: coffmand@un.org