The UN Secretary General awarded the Dag Hammarskjold (DH) Medal posthumously to all UN personnel (Military, Police and Civilian components) who lost their lives during service in peacekeeping operations.
For Rwanda, the medal was awarded to Sergeant Major Fiston Murwanashyaka and Cpl Eliakim Niyitegeka, who lost their lives while serving in MINUSCA, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic.
The United Nations Headquarters observed the International Day of United Nations (UN) Peacekeepers on Thursday, 29 May 2025.
Rwanda is the 2nd largest contributor of uniformed personnel to UN Peacekeeping. It currently deploys nearly 5,900 military and police personnel, including 660 women, to the UN peacekeeping operations in Abyei, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Medal is a posthumous award given by the United Nations (UN) to military personnel, police, or civilians who lose their lives while serving in a United Nations peacekeeping operation. The medal is named after Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, who died in a plane crash in what is now Zambia in September 1961. (End)