New York, 19 April 2023: Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, thanked Paraguay for its support to United Nations Peacekeeping and for the service and sacrifice of its military personnel deployed under the UN flag.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of UN Peacekeeping. Since 1948, 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 to the lives of millions of people caught up in conflict.
Paraguay first joined UN Peacekeeping in 2001, deploying military personnel to the United Nations Organization Mission in the Congo (MONUC) and the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). Since then, it has participated in 18 UN peace operations.
Currently, 41 uniformed personnel from Paraguay, including eight women, are deployed to five UN peace operations. Paraguay’s largest contribution is to the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia (UNVMC), a special political mission, where 16 of its women and men serve. Paraguay also contributes to the UN peacekeeping operations in the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan.
“Paraguay is a steadfast supporter of UN Peacekeeping, contributing personnel as well as to our efforts to develop people-centered solutions to conflicts in global hotspots. I am grateful for the service and sacrifice of Paraguayan women and men who served have in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe, often in complex and challenging operational environments” according to Mr. Lacroix.
Paraguay is one of more than 100 UN Member States that have had one peacekeeper lose their life while serving under the UN flag.
Paraguay 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 two 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/what-is-peacekeeping
Action for Peacekeeping: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/action-for-peacekeeping-a4p
Media enquiries at UNHQ
Department of Global Communications (New York): Douglas Coffman (coffmand@un.org)
Media enquiries in Paraguay
Centro de Información de las Naciones Unidas: Andrea Machain (machain@un.org)