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	UN pays tribute to indispensable work of peacekeepers around the world by United Nations News   28 May 2010   The United Nations celebrated on 28 May the dedication and courage of the men and women who play an indispensable role in the cause of peace around the world, while honouring the sacrifices of those who paid the ultimate price in that service.   The eighth annual International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers pays tribute to the more than 124,000 personnel who are serving in 16 operations on four continents, doing everything from clearing landmines and delivering aid to helping refugees and supporting free and fair elections.   “Our courageous peacekeepers are among the best of what the United Nations has to offer,” Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro remarked during a wreath-laying ceremony at UN Headquarters in New York to honour fallen colleagues.   “This is a day to celebrate their remarkable contributions. They do so much more than keeping the peace: they build bridges… they earn trust… they help societies heal the wounds of war,” she said. “But today we also remember the terrible price they pay for their critical but dangerous work.”   This year’s observance is a particularly sombre one owing to several tragedies that struck UN peacekeeping over the last year, from ambushes in Darfur, terrorism in Kabul, and the tragic earthquake in Haiti.   As part of the commemorative events, 218 peacekeepers who lost their lives while serving under the blue flag over the past 14 months were posthumously awarded the Dag Hammarskjöld medal at a ceremony presided over by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy.   This year’s theme is “Haiti Standing,” to mark the loss of 101 UN peacekeepers in the 12 January quake. The tragedy in Haiti represented the biggest single loss of life in UN peacekeeping history, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted in his message for the Day.   “But that dark day also became one of our finest hours, as the men and women of MINUSTAH set aside their own trauma, got the mission quickly back on its feet and helped the people of Haiti cope with the horrific aftermath,” he stated.   Mr. Ban, who is currently attending an international conference in Rio de Janeiro, met yesterday with the families of Brazilian peacekeepers killed in the Haiti earthquake, and participated at the unveiling of a commemorative plaque for the peacekeepers.   “They gave everything for the country of Brazil… for the people of Haiti… for the work of the United Nations.”   General Assembly President Ali Treki, in his message for the Day, noted that some 9,000 personnel in uniform are currently providing security and helping to restore basic services to the Haitian people.   The United Nations General Assembly established the International Day in 2002 to pay tribute to all men and women serving in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace. Visit the related web page
	Drawn-out conflicts require sustained and flexible humanitarian response by Jakob Kellenberger International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)   May 2010   The humanitarian response to contemporary armed conflicts, which tend to be drawn out and often lack a clear-cut ending or resolution, must be better adapted to meet the complex needs of the people caught up in them, according to the 2009 Annual Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).   In reviewing its worldwide operations in 80 countries last year, the organization observed that prolonged periods of armed violence resulted in a combination of severe problems, requiring a sustained, flexible and multifaceted humanitarian response.   "The consequences of long-lasting conflicts go well beyond what we often see in the headlines," said the ICRC"s president, Jakob Kellenberger. "The uncertainty that comes with not being able to return home for years on end or the monotony of walking for hours, day in and day out, to fetch water, is not breaking news… It"s the bullets and the bloodshed that make people sit up and take notice, but the problems don"t stop when public attention shifts elsewhere, nor does our work as humanitarians."   The annual report points out that the victims of many modern-day armed conflicts face a complex set of pressures and problems linked to ongoing insecurity – from short-term and often recurrent needs, like safety, food, water, shelter and medical help – to chronic challenges, such as poverty, malnutrition, and a lack of schooling, work or health care.   "This report offers just a snapshot of the decades of suffering people have faced in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and the occupied territories, Somalia, Sudan, Colombia and the Philippines," said the ICRC president. "When you look back at our annual reports from 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, you find that many of these same contexts were already embroiled in or on the brink of fighting. What worries me most is the devastating, cumulative effect this particularly pernicious set of conflicts is having on whole generations."   Mr Kellenberger said that by being "in it for the long haul" and maintaining an ongoing presence on the ground, the ICRC was able to understand and respond more effectively to both the acute and persistent needs of people in conflict-plagued countries. He added that the "increasingly interminable nature" of wars and insurgencies meant that humanitarian agencies had to be "prepared to provide a diverse range of assistance over a longer period of time."   As part of its response in 2009, the ICRC strengthened its field-based cooperation with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which are rooted in local communities, ensuring closer proximity to those in need, especially in hard-to-reach areas.   Presenting the annual overview in Geneva, Mr Kellenberger called on governments to redouble their efforts to minimize the humanitarian impact of armed conflict and other violence on civilians, adding that more pressure had to be brought to bear to ensure that warring parties adhered to international humanitarian law.   In total, the ICRC spent 1.06 billion Swiss francs in 2009, down just slightly from an all-time high of almost 1.1 billion francs in 2008. Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan and Afghanistan were among the organization"s biggest operations last year, representing almost a third of the ICRC"s overall expenditure.   Mr Kellenberger said the drawn-out character of modern-day armed conflicts and rising vulnerability among civilians were reflected in the organization"s near-record spending in 2009.   He cited Afghanistan and Somalia as presenting "major operational challenges" for the ICRC, adding that, year after year, the chaos of war and uncertainty had slowly eroded prospects for economic, social, scientific, educational or political stability and growth.   "In addition to bombings and attacks, people have had to put up with decades of displacement, little or no health care, restrictions on movement, humiliation, unemployment, despair, separation from family members, a growing dependency on aid and competition for increasingly scarce resources," said Mr Kellenberger. "I wonder what Afghanistan and Somalia would look like today – how their economies and societies would have developed, how many more children would be in school – had there been peace and progress instead of bloodshed and devastation all these years." Visit the related web page
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