Medal Awards
Dag Hammarskjöld Medal Awards
On 22 July 1997, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of peacekeeping, the Security Council held a meeting to honour the over 750,000 men and women who served in United Nations peacekeeping operations. More than 1500 of them lost their lives. At the meeting, by resolution 1121 (1997), the Security Council established the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Medal as a posthumous award to members of peacekeeping operations "as a tribute to the sacrifice of those who have lost their life as a result of service in peacekeeping operations under the operational control and authority of the United Nations".
On 6 October 1998, the first Medal was presented to the family of Dag Hammarskjöld. The second medal honoured Commandant René de Labarrière, Military Observer in United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, who was the first peacekeeper to lose his life in a United Nations peacekeeping operation, in 1948. The third Medal was received by the family of Count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations Mediator in Palestine, who was assassinated on 17 September 1948 in Jerusalem.
To mark the International Day at UN Headquarters, the UN Secretary-General will lay a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial in honour of fallen peacekeepers at 9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, 30 May 2024.
- List of Personnel to be Posthumously Awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal on 30 May 2024
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Follow the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal Awards Ceremony on UN Web TV (11:00 am, 30 May 2024 )
- Secretary-General's remarks at the ceremony
Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage
On 8 May 2014 the UN Security Council decided to create “the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage” to be 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
The United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award recognises the dedication and effort of an individual peacekeeper in promoting the principles within the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. It was first given out in 2016. The latest recipient of the award was Major Radhika Sen [press release] from India.