New York, 2 November 2022: Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix thanked Zimbabwe for its strong support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military and police personnel deployed in missions around the world.
Zimbabwe is a longtime contributor of peacekeepers to the United Nations. It currently provides 72 military and police personnel, including 41 women, to six UN peace operations, making it the 68th largest contributor.
Zimbabwe’s largest deployment is with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) where 53 peacekeepers serve. It also provides uniformed personnel to the United Nations in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA); UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS); the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA); and the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM).
“Zimbabwean peacekeepers have made a real difference wherever they have served. They demonstrate true professionalism and commitment to the UN and the communities we support. We are deeply grateful for their continued service and will never forget the sacrifice of the 20 Zimbabwean peacekeepers who have given their lives while serving the cause of peace under the UN flag,” said Mr. Lacroix.
Zimbabwe has consistently been among the top providers of women peacekeepers by percentage in recent decades. Today, nearly two-thirds of its police officers, military staff officers and experts on mission are women.
“They provide a greater sense of security to the local population and serve as role models to women and girls. They also help strengthen the effectiveness of peacekeeping, as demonstrated by Zimbabwe’s Annah Chota, who was named UN Woman Police officer of the year in 2017,” said Mr. Lacroix.
Zimbabwe 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
Media enquiries in Harare, Zimbabwe
Tafadzwa Mwale, UN Information Centre: mwalet@un.org
Media enquiries in South Sudan:
UNMISS Spokesperson’s Office: unmiss-spokesperson@un.org