On Thursday, May 29, 2025, Rwanda joined other United Nations member states in celebrating the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
Since joining UN peacekeeping missions in 2004, Rwanda has played a significant role in promoting global peace and security, and is currently the second-largest contributor of troops.
On this UN Peacekeepers Day, the Dag Hammarskjöld Medals were posthumously awarded to Sergeant Major Fiston Murwanashyaka and Corporal Eliakim Niyitegeka, who died while serving in peacekeeping operations.
The medals were received by Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Martin Ngoga.
Ambassador Ngoga and the Defence Attaché, Colonel Deo Mutabazi, stated that the medals symbolize the unwavering sacrifice made to protect peace and defend vulnerable populations, even beyond Rwanda’s borders.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is an award given by the United Nations to military personnel, police officers, or civilians who lost their lives while serving in UN peacekeeping missions.
The medal is named after Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, who died in a plane crash in what is now Zambia in September 1961.
