New Delhi: Indian peacekeeper Naik Dhananjay Kumar Singh will be honoured posthumously by United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres with the Dag Hammarskjold medal in recognition for his service with the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
The award will be conferred 30 May when the UN commemorates the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.
Naik Singh is among the 61 military, police and civilian peacekeepers to be honoured posthumously with the prestigious medal. On 1 November last year, Naik Singh died due to ischemic heart disease while on duty.
He was from the Army Medical Corps, which primarily provides medical services to army personnel. Serving as a nursing assistant, Naik Singh was made part of the Indian Battalion-1 on 7 July 2023.
Naik Singh imparted medical training on basic life support and combat medical care, and was responsible for timely medical examination and vaccination of troops. In the mission area, he was instrumental in functioning of Level-1 hospital ensuring round-the-clock operability of critical care and medical support.
UN Peacekeeping is aimed at reducing the conflict and bringing peace in those countries that are engulfed in violence. Currently, there are 11 peacekeeping operations ongoing in the world, with MONUSCO in Democratic Republic of Congo being one of them.
The mission was established in July 2010 and is headquartered at Kinshasa. The number of personnel belonging to all nationalities currently serving in this mission are 17,761 as of February 2024, of which 16,316 are uniformed personnel, including those from military, police as well as personnel of formed police units.
In this mission, India is the second highest troop contributor with 1,817 personnel serving in Congo, while Pakistan tops the list with 1,908 active personnel. When it comes to police contribution, India stands at the fifth place with 139 personnel. As many as 275 personnel belonging to all nationalities have died while serving in Congo.
The mission’s mandate, according to the UN Peacekeeping website, is aimed at the protection of civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders in view of “imminent threat of physical violence and to support the Congo government in its stabilisation and peace consolidation efforts”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Pensionless Maha Vir Chakra awardee who trained Mukti Bahini continues to fight for rights