Two Chinese military officers awarded UN peacekeeping medal

Two Chinese military officers were awarded the United Nations Peacekeeping Medal for their contributions to the UN peacekeeping effort.

Colonel Zhang Qiman and Lieutenant Colonel Duanmu Donglin, who are working at the UN Department of Peace Operations, were among the 30 medal recipients from 19 countries.

"I feel so proud that I could work at the UN headquarters as a staff officer," Zhang told Xinhua after the award ceremony on Friday at UN headquarters in New York.

Zhang expressed her gratitude to the motherland, which she said gives her "confidence and courage" so that she can do her utmost for UN peacekeeping operations, adding that actively participating in UN peacekeeping operations is "a new historic mission and task."

As a female military officer, Zhang said the United Nations is unprecedentedly advocating gender parity, which encourages more women to take part in UN peacekeeping operations.

According to the UN website, as of January 2018, gender parity had been achieved in the UN secretary-general's senior management group at headquarters and among UN resident coordinators.

For the first time in the history of the UN, a woman was appointed to head the Department of Political Affairs in March 2018.

As of September 2018, women comprised 41 percent of heads and deputy heads of peace operations led by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Political Affairs — an increase by 13 percentage points since 2017.

In 2017, women's representation among military troops and police officers in UN peace operations remained low at 4 percent and 10 percent, respectively. As of July 2018, three of 16, or19 percent, of UN peace operations with police components had women in charge, whereas there was only one woman military force commander

"As a professional soldier, I think there is no gender division when it comes to responsibility and mission," said Zhang.

Both Zhang and Duanmu had worked in UN peacekeeping missions prior to their posting at UN headquarters.

"We are thanking them for their services. Peacekeeping is very demanding work and we are grateful for everything they do," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, undersecretary-general for the UN Department of Peace Operations, who decorated the recipients.

"We have excellent colleagues from China. As a permanent member of the Security Council, China's role is extremely important in view of improving the impact and performance of peacekeeping," Lacroix told Xinhua.

China has deployed a total of 2,508 uniformed personnel, including 70 women, to eight of the UN peacekeeping missions, including those in South Sudan, Lebanon, and in Mali.

They work in such fields as land mine removal, medical services, engineering, transportation and security, according to China's permanent representative to the UN, Ma Zhaoxu.

China attaches great importance to training and capacity building of peacekeepers, he said at a Security Council open debate earlier this month.

"The Chinese peacekeepers are well-trained, well-equipped and well-disciplined," Ma said.

Ma noted that a standby peacekeeping force of over 8,000 troops and two standby peacekeeping police contingents have been established and all have passed UN inspection.

"They can be put into operation at any time," he said.

In addition to its own efforts, Ma said China also has been actively helping troop contributing countries, especially developing countries, in their capacity building.

China will continue to work actively to provide the African Union with military assistance worth $100 million and an additional $80 million to help "Africa advance its Africa standby force and rapid reaction force and support Africa in its efforts to enhance its own peacekeeping capacity," he said.

In December, China's share of the UN peacekeeping budget was raised from 10.24 percent to 15.22 percent, making it the second largest contributor only after the United States.

Ma said China will continue contributing to building UN peacekeeping capacity and honor its commitment to world peace with concrete action.

UN headquarters observed the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on Friday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres laid a wreath to honor all UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives since 1948.

Following the wreath laying, the UN chief honored 119 military, police and civilian peacekeepers who lost their lives in 2018 and early 2019, with the Dag Hammarskjold medal.

According to Guterres, ever since the UN deployed the first of its 72 peacekeeping missions back in 1948, more than 3,800 peacekeepers have lost their lives.

The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002, to pay tribute to all men and women serving in peacekeeping, and to honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

The General Assembly designated May 29 as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in commemoration of the day in 1948 when the UN's first peacekeeping mission, the UN Truce Supervision Organization, began operations in Palestine.