The United Nations is honoring four Nepali UN peacekeepers posthumously on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on May 26 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres will award the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal posthumously to 117 military, police, and civilian peacekeepers, who lost their life serving under the UN flag last year, read a statement issued by the United Nations on Wednesday.

NCE Pitambar Thapa of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL); Private Dipendra Osti, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS); Police POA Umesh Kumar Mehattar; who served with the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID); and Mr. Jhank Nath Regmi who served in a civilian capacity in the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) are among the peacekeepers to be honored posthumously.

In his message, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Today, we honour the more than one million women and men who have served as UN peacekeepers since 1948.  We pay tribute to the nearly 4,200 heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives in the cause of peace. And we are reminded an age-old truth: peace can never be taken for granted. Peace is the prize. We are deeply grateful to the 87,000 civilian, police and military personnel now serving under the UN flag who are helping to realize the prize of peace worldwide.”

The theme for this year’s observance is “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.” According to the Secretary-General, "Around the globe, UN peacekeepers work with Member States, civil society, humanitarians, the media, the communities they serve and many others, to foster peace, protect civilians, promote human rights and the rule of law and improve the lives of millions of people.”

Nepal is the third largest troops-contributing country in the United Nations Peacekeeping mission.