UN Secretary-General António Guterres paid tribute to young UN Peacekeepers on the ocassion of UN Peacekeepers Day 29 May. He had an online-dialogue with three of them, including Norwegian Sira Bojan (29), who is serving with MINUSMA in Mali.
“I wanted to become a Peacekeeper because I have always wanted to help others», Sira Bojan told Mr. Guterres. «This is a good opportunity to experience how people, regardless of their nationalities work together towards a common goal.“
Sira has studied to become a police. Her job consists in training the local police in Mali to run a crime scene. Her work as a peacekeeper, she says, has taught her not to take anything for granted.
Important role of young peacekeepers
MINUSMA is the UN Peacekeeping mission in Mali. It was launched in April 2013 and was operational in july the same year. Norway has participated since september 2013. It is considered one of them most challenging peacekeeping operations of this century.
Today, there are thousands of young peacekeepers, 18 to 29 years-old, who are based around the globe. They have an important role to play to fulfill the mandates despite the difficult times we are going through.
“Young people have an important role to play in UN peacekeeping operations. Their contribution is “ Guterres said. He reached out to the young peacekeepers on the occasion of the International day of UN Peacekeepers, to hear first-hand aobut their motivations and challenges in the field.
