UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said that two peacekeepers deployed at the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) have died this week due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th May, 2020) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said that two peacekeepers deployed at the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) have died this week due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"Yesterday and today, two of our military colleagues have passed away due to COVID-19," Guterres said in a statement. "Both are members of MINUSMA."
He added that the peacekeepers were from Cambodia and El Salvador.
Guterres was speaking at a ceremony to mark the International Day of the UN Peacekeepers and honor personnel who have lost their lives while on duty with Dag Hammarskjold Medal.
According to him, in 2019, 83 military police and civilian personnel lost their lives while serving in UN operations.
"In... memory of all those fallen on the line of duty, I want to express my deepest condolences to their families," Guterres said. "I hope that this medal offers them a measure of comfort."
The UN chief also presented the Military Gender Advocate Award, created in 2016 and given every year to recognize the effort to promote the critical role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peacekeeping and humanitarian response.
This year, the award went to Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo from Brazil, who serves at the UN Mission in the Central African Republic, and Major Suman Gawani of the Indian Army, a Military Observer formerly deployed with the UN Mission in South Sudan.
