- World
- Jun 07
What is Dag Hammarskjold Medal of the UN?
• The United Nations paid tribute to the more than 4,500 peacekeepers who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past 78 years on June 5.
• Their photos were displayed on a screen and their names read out as country representatives accepted the boxed medals.
• He laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial in honour of fallen peacekeepers during an event on June 5.
Dag Hammarskjold Medal
• On July 22, 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 1,500 of them lost their lives.
• At the meeting, by resolution, the Security Council established the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold Medal as a posthumous award to members of peacekeeping operations.
• It is the highest honour awarded to UN peacekeepers.
• It is named after the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold.
• Dag Hammarskjold was Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 10, 1953 until September 18, 1961 when he died in a plane crash while on a peace mission in the Congo.
• The medal is awarded to peacekeepers who have distinguished themselves by exceptional courage, devotion to duty, and sacrifice in the cause of peace.
• On October 6, 1998, the first Medal was presented to the family of Dag Hammarskjold.
• The second medal honoured Commandant Rene de Labarriere, military observer in the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, 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 September 17, 1948 in Jerusalem.
• Every 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 UN headquarters.
Bravery awards
• Two peacekeepers were rewarded for their bravery, receiving the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage – named after a Senegalese military officer killed in Rwanda in 1994.
• Sergeant Matias Reyes of Uruguay saved lives serving under the UN flag in the restive eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in January 2025.
• The other recipient, Sergii Prykhodko of Ukraine — a private contractor with a helicopter crew at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) — sacrificed his life during a dangerous mission to evacuate besieged soldiers in March 2025.
Major Abhilasha Barak receives award
• Inspector Stephanie Konigs of Germany, who served at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), received the 2025 Woman Police Officer of the Year Award.
• Major Abhilasha Barak has been honoured for her outreach and community engagement activities for women and adolescent girls and gender sensitisation training for peacekeepers.
• Barak is serving with the Indian Battalion as the Commander of the Female Engagement Team (FET) in UNIFIL.
• She is also the first woman combat helicopter pilot of the Indian Army.
• Barak is the third recipient of the award from the country, following Major Suman Gawani and Major Radhika Sen, who were honoured for their commendable work while serving in UN Peacekeeping missions.
• Gawani had served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and received the 2019 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.
• Major Radhika Sen, who served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), received the prestigious 2023 United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award.
• India is among the largest troop and police contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions.
• As of February 2026, UNIFIL’s force consists of 7,538 peacekeepers from 48 troop-contributing countries, including 642 personnel from India, the fourth highest after Italy (784), Indonesia (756) and Spain (660).