UN considers peacekeeping gallantry medal

[ChrisW]

A good and long overdue idea, but one that could easily fall victim to bureaucracy and compromise.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27057909

[Paul R]

About time. I cannot find a more fitting name for the award.

[Chris Boonzaier]

They would need a central approval office... otherwise it will right away become a "Cheap change" award....

[paul wood]

I was very moved when I heard the story about Diagne on BBC Radio 4 last week, certainly his courage was one of the few rays of light in the dreadful Rwanda genocide. A UN bravery medal named after him would certainly be a fitting memorial to an extraordinarily brave and compassionate man.

Paul

[turtle]

About time. I cannot find a more fitting name for the award.

I second that!

[ColinRF]

Approved unanimously by security council today. http://www.agencefrance-presse.com/en/node/2369708 "The resolution, proposed by Jordan and unanimously approved, notes "with the deepest regret" that "the family of Captain Diagne never received, after his death, any expressions of appreciation from the headquarters of the United Nations."

Diagne's story is well told in the extraordinary documentary "Ghost of Rwanda" available on YouTube.

Recognition long overdue for an extraordinary man.

Colin

Edited May 9, 2014 by ColinRF

[peter monahan]

It would indeed be a fitting tribute to what sounds to have been an extraordinary man.

You may or may not know that General Romeo Dallaire, the UN commander in Rwanda has become an acknowledged expert on PTSD, based on his own experience's thee and after, and is now a human rights advocate of some fame, at least here in Canada. A horrible horrible chapter in human history and a story which deserves to be retold often as a lesson and warning on good intentions gone wrong!

[ColinRF]

Thanks Peter. I am a great admirer of Dallaire and all his crew from 1994. I sculpted his portrait in miniature a couple of years ago and am now putting a similar one together of Diagne.

Colin

[Megan]

United Nations Security Council
Distr.: General
8 May 2014
Resolution 2154 (2014)
Adopted by the Security Council at its 7170th meeting, on 8 May 2014
The Security Council,
Recalling Article 24 of the United Nations Charter which confers upon the Security Council the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, Recognizing the medals presented by the United Nations to those men and women in uniform who serve in United Nations field operations, and recalling its Resolution 1121 (1997) establishing the Dag Hammarskjold Medal, as a tribute to the sacrifice of those who have lost their own lives as a result of service in peacekeeping operations, under the operational control and authority of the United nations,
Recalling fundamental principles of the United Nations peacekeeping, as well as other relevant principles of the United Nations activities on the ground, Noting with deep appreciation how Captain Mbaye Diagne of UNAMIR and of Senegal, saved, unarmed and in the face of extreme danger hundreds of, perhaps even a thousand, Rwandans from death, during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, during which Hutu and others who opposed the genocide were also killed,
Recognizing with the deepest regret, how the family of Captain Diagne never received, after his death, any expressions of appreciation from the headquarters of the United Nations for the sacrifices made by their distinguished family member, Remembering the many other acts of bravery that military, police and civilian United Nations personnel and associated personnel have undertaken, while fulfilling the mandate of their missions or their functions, at great risk to their lives,
1. Decides 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;
2. Requests the Secretary-General to establish within six months after the adoption of this resolution, the design of the medal, and to submit in due course to the Security Council the modalities for determining how the recipients of the medal shall be nominated and chosen, based on the criteria set forth in the previous paragraph;
3. Requests that the medal be presented by the Secretary-General to the recipient, or next of kin, in a ceremony to which all member states of the United Nations shall be invited;
4. Decides this medal will be ready for investiture within six months of the establishment of its modalities and the administrative management of the award will be provided by the Secretariat.

[paul wood]

Thanks for that Megan, it will be interesting to see what the design will be like.

Paul