*
"UN
peacekeeping operations are now increasingly
complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond
monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing
failed States back to life, often after decades
of conflict. The blue helmets and their civilian
colleagues work together to organize elections,
enact police and judicial reform, promote and
protect human rights, conduct mine-clearance,
advance gender equality, achieve the voluntary
disarmament of former combatants, and support
the return of refugees and displaced people
to their homes."
-- Kofi Annan
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On
this International Day of UN Peacekeepers, let us pay
tribute to the men and women from countries across the
world who serve selflessly, tirelessly and fearlessly
in UN peacekeeping operations. Let us remember the heroes
who have laid down their lives in lands far from their
own in the service of peace. And let us reaffirm our
commitment to building a world free from the scourge
of war.
-- Kofi Annan
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*
"Today,
we have more than 110,000 men and women deployed
in conflict zones around the world. They come
from nearly 120 countries ... Thanks to their
efforts, life-saving humanitarian assistance can
be delivered and economic development can begin.
"
-- Ban Ki-moon
|
"Today,
we have more than 110,000 men and women deployed in
conflict zones around the world. They come from nearly
120 countries -- an all-time high, reflecting confidence
in United Nations peacekeeping. They come from nations
large and small, rich and poor -- some of them countries
recently afflicted by war themselves. They bring different
cultures and experiences to the job, but they are united
in their determination to foster peace. Some are in
uniform, but many are civilians and their activities
go far beyond monitoring. They train police, disarm
ex-combatants, support elections and help build State
institutions. They build bridges, repair schools, assist
flood victims and protect women from sexual violence.
They uphold human rights and promote gender equality.
Thanks to their efforts, life-saving humanitarian assistance
can be delivered and economic development can begin.
"
-- Ban Ki-moon
We
have voted time and again in the Security Council, and
rightfully so, to support critical missions in Lebanon,
Haiti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kosovo, and
many others. The UN ‘blue helmets’ are literally on
the front lines in conflicts that are the worst of the
worst: protecting civilians, monitoring cease-fires,
clearing mine fields, and disarming combatants. Through
UN peacekeeping, the U.S. contributes to international
peace and stability where we have critical foreign policy
interests, while sharing the human, political and financial
costs with other nations. We should not shortchange
these operations.”
-- US Senator Joe Biden
*
Working
with the UN’s diplomacy and development arms,
we can prevent minor differences from escalating
into wars. When conflicts do break out, UN peacekeepers
should play a role in defusing and settling
them. Without giving up our sovereignty, we
can help the UN with better training and better
command and control in order to develop more
effective peacekeeping forces.
-– Bill Bradley
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One
means of paying attention to smaller countries that
have sometimes been overlooked is by revitalizing US
leadership in the United Nations. The UN is committed
to the goal of ensuring that all nations share in economic,
social, & scientific progress. It delivers humanitarian
assistance to the victims of wars and natural disasters.
It provides a mechanism through which the US can help
in dozens of conflicts around the world in which our
vital interests aren’t directly involved but where we
feel a more imperative to respond. Working with the
UN’s diplomacy and development arms, we can prevent
minor differences from escalating into wars. When conflicts
do break out, UN peacekeepers should play a role in
defusing and settling them. Without giving up our sovereignty,
we can help the UN with better training and better command
and control in order to develop more effective peacekeeping
forces.
-– Bill Bradley
*
The
United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful
and free world.
--
Ralph J. Bunche
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|
The
United Nations exists not merely to preserve the peace
but also to make change - even radical change - possible
without violent upheaval. The United Nations has no
vested interest in the status quo. It seeks a more secure
world, a better world, a world of progress for all peoples.
In the dynamic world society which is the objective
of the United Nations, all peoples must have equality
and equal rights. --
Ralph J. Bunche
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*
"Peace
is a fulltime job. It's protecting civilians,
overseeing elections, and disarming ex-combatants.
The UN has over 100,000 Peacekeepers on the ground,
in places others can't or won't go, doing things
others can't or won't do. Peace, like war, must
be waged."
-- George Clooney
|
"Peace
is not just a colored ribbon. It's more than a wristband
or a t-shirt. It's not just a donation or a 5 K race.
It's not just a folk song, or a white dove. And peace
is certainly more than a celebrity endorsement. Peace
is a fulltime job. It's protecting civilians, overseeing
elections, and disarming ex-combatants. The UN has over
100,000 Peacekeepers on the ground, in places others
can't or won't go, doing things others can't or won't
do. Peace, like war, must be waged."
-- George Clooney
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*
"For
all the civilians saved thanks to the presence
of peacekeepers, there have been those who were
lost – the United Nations personnel who sacrificed
their lives for a noble cause. Even as we mourn
our fallen colleagues, we are all uplifted by
their unflinching commitment and are inspired
to strive even harder for the collective cause
so eloquently envisaged in the United Nations
Charter: a world free from the scourge of war."
-- Jan Eliasson
(Former
President of the UN General Assembly)
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*
The
UN wasn’t created to take mankind into paradise,
but rather, to save humanity from hell.
-- Dag
Hammarskjöld
|
|
"A
world without the United Nations or with a paralyzed
United Nations would be far more costly to all of us
and far more dangerous to peace and stability."
-- Richard Holbrooke
|
*
“The
heroes of the world community are not those who
withdraw when difficulties ensue, not those who
can envision neither the prospect of success nor
the consequence of failure -- but those who stand
the heat of battle, the fight for world peace
through the United Nations.”
-- Hubert Humphrey
|
“The
primary, the fundamental, the essential purpose of the
United Nations is to keep peace. Everything it does
which helps prevent World War III is good. Everything
which does not further that goal, either directly or
indirectly, is at best superfluous.”
-- Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Peacekeeping
funds are an important and necessary part of what America
does for humanity and the rest of the world.”
-- US Congressman Michael McCaul
*
This
is the one international institution we have in
which governments get together to work collectively
for a common purpose. International crises, by
definition, require international solutions. Peacekeeping
is a response to conflict, is a response to situations
in which often it is not the business of any one
particular country to get into. It seems to me,
therefore, that the world will for the foreseeable
future need peacekeeping.
-- Shashi Tharoor
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“The
United Nations is designed to make possible lasting
freedom and independence for all its members”
-- Harry S Truman
*
"Through
your support of UN peacekeeping, you can help
to make this tantalizing word—“peace”—a reality
for all the world’s citizens. Together, we can
spread the message that UN peacekeeping is essential.
Without it, the world would be a much less stable,
and more violent, place."
~ Timothy Wirth
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