UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Displaced Cameroonians step up to new life with sandals

People who have lost everything after being displaced by the armed Islamist groups in north-east Cameroon are being taught to make and sell leather goods in order to earn extra income.

Celebrities, influencers advocate at UN for action

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World leaders centre stage at UN

Youth activism comes to the United Nations

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UN’s biggest week of the year gets underway at UN Headquarters

UN’s biggest week of the year gets underway at UN Headquarters

The United Nations General Assembly and Secretariat buildings at UN headquarters.

From left, Jose Medrano, Edimer Valle and Arnel Ojeda build the SDG Action Zone on the grounds of UN Headquarters in preparation for the High-Level Week.

A wide view of the General Assembly Hall during the opening of the UN Climate Action Summit 2019. (23 September 2019)

UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the opening ceremony of the Climate Action Summit on 23 September 2019.

David Nabarro, co-facilitator of the Nature-Based Solutions coalition of the UN Climate Action Summit, briefs journalists at the UN.

Secretary-General António Guterres participates with Aidan Gallagher in an Instagram live moment at the United Nations ahead of the Climate Action Summit on Monday 23 September 2019.

Basket of pins representing the colors of each of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Haiti bids farewell to 15 years of UN peacekeeping

Haiti bids farewell to 15 years of UN peacekeeping

UN peacekeepers conduct a patrol in the volatile neighbourhood of Bel Air in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince in April 2004.

UN peacekeepers fly into a town to perform emergency surgery on wounded Haitian police officers.

Brazilian UN peacekeepers patrol the Cité Soleil neighbourhood in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince in 2007.

United Nations police officers from Nigeria patrol a neighbourhood in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince in April 2009

A community violence reduction program, supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, employed local residents in a cash-for-work programme in 2012 building rock walls and planting vegetation in order to save arable land and prevent flooding.

A UN police officer helps an elderly woman to a polling station in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince.

The United Nations Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) works with members of Haiti's Provisionary Electoral Council (CEP) to gather and transport voter's ballots from around Haiti to the capital, Port au Prince for tabulation.

A Brazilian UN peacekeeper rescues a child after parts of the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince were flooded during a tropical storm in 2007.

UN peacekeepers in Haiti look for survivors in the rubble of the mission headquarters following the earthquake which struck the Caribbean country in January 2010.

Local communities in DR Congo vital to UN’s response to Ebola outbreak

Local communities in DR Congo vital to UN’s response to Ebola outbreak

A survivor of Ebola works in a childcare centre in Butembo in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (August 2019)

A young boy, whose mother is suspected of contracting Ebola, is looked after in a childcare centre in Butembo in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (August 2019)

Ruth Kavira Sikwaya, a survivor of the deadly Ebola disease, now works in a childcare centre in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. (August 2019)

Kavira Kaviavu Matumaini, a 24-year-old Ebola survivor from Butembo in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. August 2019)

Staff at the Katwa Ebola treatment Unit in Butembo in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo disinfect boots and wash clothes. (August 2019)

A patient at a health centre in Butembo in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has her temperature measured as part of efforts to prevent the spread of Ebola. (August 2019)

Ebola survivors and other parishioners gather at a church in Beni, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. (August 2019)

Communication and community engagement are essential to stop and prevent the spread of Ebola in the eastern DRC. Here, Lwanzo Kahindo, a member of a local women's group in Butembo sensitizes people to the danger of Ebola. (August 2019)

UN peacekeepers support a UNICEF Ebola sensitization programme at a prison in Butembo, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (August 2019)

Terrorism survivors in Africa’s Lake Chad region

Terrorism survivors in Africa’s Lake Chad region

Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon. (February 2019)

Wala Matari was abducted by terrorists from her home in north-east Cameroon and taken to Nigeria.

Former Boko Haram hostage, Wala Matari, now lives in Zamai village in the Far North region of Cameroon.

Cameroonians, including Wala Matari (far right,) displaced by terrorist activity in the Lake Chad region attend church in north-east Cameroon.

Mohamed Lawan Goni, a former Nigerian government tax official, fled to Minawao camp in Cameroon after a terrorist attack on his town. (February 2019)

Mohammed Lawan Goni, a Nigerian refugee living in Cameroon, prays with his family in Minawao camp. (4 February 2019)

Nigerian refugee, Mohamed Lawan Goni, with his 10 children, mother and two wives in Minawao camp in Cameroon. (February 2019)

Fati Yahaya fled to Cameroon after escaping armed insurgents in Nigeria.

Fati Yahaya is 24 years old and comes from the village of Koghum in the north-east of Nigeria. She is now living in Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon. (4 February 2019)

UNHCR showcases work by refugee artists at Venice Biennale

UNHCR showcases work by refugee artists at Venice Biennale

A boat in which 800 migrants and refugees died in the Mediterranean sea, goes on display at the Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy.

A boat in which 800 migrants and refugees died in the Mediterranean sea, goes on display at the Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy.

At the Venice Biennale art festival (left to right) are refugee artists Majid Adin from Iran, Bnar Sardar Sidiq from Iraq, Mohamed Keita from Ivory Coast and Rasha Deeb from Syria.

Refugee photographer Mohamed Keita, 25, from Ivory Coast pictured with his images during the

Syrian refugee artist Rasha Deeb, 30, pictured with her scupltures during the

Breathtaking new sites help reconcile nature with man

Breathtaking new sites help reconcile nature with man

Isle of Wight Biosphere Reserve in the United Kingdom.

Alto Turia Biosphere Reserve in Spain.

Gangwon Eco-Peace Biosphere Reserve in the Republic of Korea.

Kobushi Biosphere Reserve in Japan.

Togean Togo Una-Una Biosphere Reserve in Indonesia.

Lubombo Biosphere Reserve in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Nordhordland Biosphere Reserve in Norway.

Sunset at Lake Elton Biosphere Reserve in the Russian Federation.

Designing a better life for displaced people

Designing a better life for displaced people

Inhabitants of Canaan, Haiti, which has grown from an IDP camp to become a settlement with some 200 schools and churches.

Construction of communal shelters in Wau camp for displaced people, in South Sudan.

Prototype Maternity Waiting Home for the Kasungu District Hospital. MASS Design Group, in collaboration with the Malawi Ministry of Health.

Cultural center in Chamanga, Ecuador, designed by the Center for Public Interest Design in the aftermath of the 2016 earthquake.

Bamboo learning centre in Bangladesh for refugee Rohingya children, built for the “Friendship” NGO.

A communal shelter under construction in the largest collective displacement site in Gedeb, Ethiopia.

IOM staff members rebuilt homes and public buildings homes on Chuuk, Micronesia, and its outer Islands, that were damaged by Typhoon Maysak in 2015.

This small cluster of shelters for Rohingya refugees at Kutupalong, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh includes water and sanitation facilities, drainage for wastewater, and solar lighting for security at night. As costs fall, renewable energy sources are becoming

Global displacement at ‘highest level’ in 70 years

Global displacement at ‘highest level’ in 70 years

Rohingya refugees cross the border near Anzuman Para village, Palong Khali, Bangladesh. 9 October 2017.

A newly-displaced woman in a displacement site in Bunia town, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (17 June 2019)

Venezuelans queue up to get an entry stamp in their passports at the Ecuador-Peru border. (13 June 2019)

UNHCR Chief Filippo Grandi meets formerly displaced mother Wafa’a, 34, in Al Qadam, Damascus. Wafa’a is the head of a household that includes two-year-old Mahmoud (pictured), his two siblings and their grandmother. (7 March 2019)

UN agencies and their local humanitarian partner, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC), deliver life-saving assistance to 50,000 people in the city of Menbij, north-east Aleppo governorate, and surrounding areas. (6 March 2019)

A young girl sits on the ground near a registration centre in Dadaab refugee camp, eastern Kenya. (15 November 2017)

A makeshift shelter at a hosting site in the Abs district of Hajjah governorate, 150 kilometres north of Hudaydah. (8 May 2019)

Sam is a displaced boy from Hudaydah. When his family fled to Aden he had to get a fishing job to help support them. His father used to be a teacher but after losing his job he stays at home caring for Sam's mother who has disabilities that prevent her from walking. (8 May 2019)

Narun Nahar sits at her sewing machine in Kutupalong refugee settlement. She fled Myanmar with her family, but her husband and father were killed on the way, leaving Narun and her mother widowed. She lives in Kutupalong refugee settlement with her two sons and daughter, while her mother lives nearby with her sisters. (27 May 2019)

Protecting people, protecting peace

Protecting people, protecting peace

A UN peacekeeper from Ethiopia helps a woman load firewood onto her head in South Sudan. (file 2015)

Police officers from around the world serving in UN peacekeeping missions are coming together at UN Headquarters to discuss policing issues and in particular how to increase the number of women serving under the UN flag.

Uruguayan peacekeepers serving in the DRC patrol the town of Pinga to secure the area after the withdrawal of a militia group in December 2013.

In 2019, some 200,000 people were sheltering in UN protection of civilians sites in South Sudan. (file 2017)

A Mongolian peacekeeper provides security as the World Food Programme drops food in Bentiu, South Sudan (21 October 2015).

Lt. Colonel Ella Van Den Heuvel of the Netherlands interacting with a local resident while patrolling in Rmeish, South Lebanon (December 2017).

An Egyptian peacekeeper from the UN mission in the Central African Republic, (MINUSCA), helps to distribute water in the capital Bangui. (file 2014)

A UN human rights officer in South Sudan listens to the concerns of a man in the lakes region of the country. (file April 2015)

A UN civilian staff member explains the mandate of the peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, to students in Bamako, Mali. (file 2013)

Building a future for South Sudan

Building a future for South Sudan

South Korean engineers are completing road repairs in South Sudan as part of the rehabilitation of transport infrastructure in the country.

South Korean engineers are contributing to the rehabilitation of South Sudan's transport infrastructure.

A UN vehicle gets stuck on a muddy road during the rainy season in South Sudan.

South Korean engineers use heavy equipment vehicles to grade the roads as part of the rehabilitation of transport infrastructure in South Sudan.

Local women on the newly-rehabilitated road in Pibor, South Sudan.

A young man receives training in electronic engineering at a vocational centre opened by the South Korean Peacekeepers.

A local woman seeks advice at a medical camp run by South Korean peacekeepers in South Sudan.

A female peacekeeper from South Korea receives a UN medal at a medal parade ceremony.

At a medal parade ceremony in South Sudan, peacekeepers got creative with construction equipment which was used as a back drop for the parade.

Holding on to hope: the objects that internally displaced people can’t let go

Holding on to hope: the objects that internally displaced people can’t let go

A family internally displaced from Baga to Maiduguri Displacement Camp, Nigeria, touch an old family photo, a reminder of better times.

An old family photo kept by Oza Modu, internally displaced from Baga to Maiduguri Displacement Camp, Nigeria, as a memory of better times.

This t-shirt is the one thing left to remind Hannatu Yusuf, internally displaced from Baga to Maiduguri Displacement Camp, Nigeria, of home.

Abu Jassim, internally displaced from Salah al-Din, to Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, couldn't leave without his pigeons.

Tatiana Prosenko, internally displaced from Donetsk to Kyiv, Ukraine, keeps this one-way ticket as a reminder of what she went through.

Moafaq, a wedding photographer Internally displaced from Mosul City, couldn't let go of an old video camera.

Martha, Internally displaced from Putumayo to Narino, Colombia, keeps this hammock, stitched with the name of her murdered son.

Valerii Grek, internally displaced from Dokuchaevsk, to Novyi Donbas, Ukraine, treats his dogs as members of his family.

Vladu, internally displaced from Horlivka to Kyiv, Ukraine, associated this toy cow with the stability she enjoyed before displacement.

Tanzanian women peacekeepers on the front line in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tanzanian women peacekeepers on the front line in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tanzania female peacekeepers serving with MONUSCO’s Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) contingent in Beni’s area of Mavivi in DRC’s North Kivu province have been taking part in both security patrols as well as empowering the community with income generating skills.

Tanzania women peacekeepers serving with MONUSCO’s Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) contingent in Beni’s area of Mavivi in DRC’s North Kivu province have been taking part in both security patrols as well as empowering the community with income generating skills.

Tanzania female peacekeepers serving with MONUSCO’s Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) contingent in Beni’s area of Mavivi in DRC’s North Kivu province have been taking part in both security patrols as well as empowering the community with income generating skills.

Tanzania women peacekeepers serving with MONUSCO’s Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) contingent in Beni’s area of Mavivi in DRC’s North Kivu province have been taking part in both security patrols as well as empowering the community with income generating skills.

Tanzanian peacekeeper, Ahmed Liuma (far right) serving with MONUSCO’s FIB force in Mavivi, Beni Town in the the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC’s province of North Kivu explaining to women farmers on how to sustainably farm vegetables for both selling and household consumption.

Tanzania women peacekeepers serving with MONUSCO’s Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) contingent in Beni’s area of Mavivi in DRC’s North Kivu province have been taking part in both security patrols as well as empowering the community with income generating skills.

Tanzania female peacekeepers serving with MONUSCO’s Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) contingent in Beni’s area of Mavivi in DRC’s North Kivu province have been taking part in both security patrols as well as empowering the community with income generating skills.

Swedish women take on tough UN peacekeeping missions

Swedish women take on tough UN peacekeeping missions

Sweden is one of the major troop contributors to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA.

In 2018, 25 women were deployed to Mali in a battalion of 252 Swedish military personnel. Here a Swedish peacekeeper is on patrol in Timbuktu in the north of the West African country.

Mali is one of the most challenging UN peacekeeping missions. Swedish personnel have been deployed there since 2014.

Sweden began contributing personnel to UN peacekeeping operations in 1948. Since then more than 80,000 Swedish women and men have participated in UN missions, including in the UN Emergency Force (UNEF) in Egypt in 1956 (pictured).

And following the creation of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964, Sweden sent a contingent to the Mediterranean island.

A female member of the Swedish Infantry Battalion attached to UNFICYP on target practice at Battalion Headquarters, Larnaca. The 12 female members of the battalion were the first women to join the Force in Autumn 1979.

In South Sudan, Sweden has deployed a number of police officers who are part of the UN mission, UNMISS. Here, a Swedish officer interacts with an internally displaced person in a protection of civilians site in the capital, Juba.

In Timor Leste, in 2010, Swedish police officers were part of the UN mission there, UNMIT. Here, a Swedish officer works alongside a Chinese colleague in an orphange in the capital Dili.

Sweden continues to send troops and police officers to some of the world’s most dangergous places, while contributing around US$70 million a year to UN peacekeeping operations.

Honouring Ghana’s service to UN peacekeeping

Honouring Ghana’s service to UN peacekeeping

Ghana has been a consistent contributor to United Nations peacekeeping efforts since the 1960s. Seen here is Mary, a UN Police Officer from Ghana, as she greets children at the El Sereif camp for internally displaced persons in the Darfur region of Sudan in June 2014.

Ghana first deployed troops as part of a UN peacekeeping operation set up to help restore calm and order in the then Republic of Congo (ONUC). Pictured here are Ghanaian police on duty in Leopoldville in August 1960.

Yasser Arafat (centre), Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, making a statement to the press in Beirut, following his acceptance of the Secretary-General's call for a cease-fire in southern Lebanon in March 1978.

Soldiers from Ghana (on radio) and China at work in the Central Sector of the demilitarized zone along the Iraq-Kuwait border in May 1991. The zone extended 10 kilometres into Iraq and five kilometres into Kuwait from the boundaries as agreed to in 1963.

UN Police Officers serving with the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) direct traffic in the capital, Phnom Penh, in January 1993. To the far right is a police officer from India; second from right is a police officer from Ghana.

Members of the Formed Police Unit of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur from Ghana, Indonesia and Nigeria conduct daily patrols to monitor the security situation in the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons in April 2009.

Assisted by two colleagues, Angela Ama Agyeman Sesime (centre) of Ghana, Police Adviser for UNAMID, writes a report following a patrol through the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons in North Darfur, Sudan, in October 2010.

A member of the Ghana Engineering Contingent serving with the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) paints a wall of school in Taliko, a poor neighbourhood of the capital, Bamako.

Female peacekeepers with the Ghanaian battalion serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) prepare to go on a patrol in the capital, Kinshasa, in December 2015.

Nepal: Over six decades of service with UN peacekeeping

Nepal: Over six decades of service with UN peacekeeping

Nepal has been contributing peacekeepers to UN missions across the world for 60 years. Currently, it has over 5,700 personnel serving in more than a dozen countries, making the South Asian nation the fifth largest contributor to UN peacekeeping. Seen here are members of the Nepalese first reserve battalion during a medal parade in Juba, South Sudan, in September 2018.

The service of Nepalese men and women has not come without enormous sacrifice – 76 of them have lost their lives serving under the UN flag over the past six decades. Nepalese peacekeepers serving with the UN Operation in Burundi are seen here arriving in the town of Isale to check on security and the local population in December 2004.

Nepalese peacekeepers in South Sudan conduct a handwash training at Queen’s Nursery School in the capital, Juba, in September 2018. They also distributed non-food items, including back packs for students, during the event.

A peacekeeper serving in Juba calls home in May 2015 in the wake of the earthquake that struck Nepal. Amid the tragedy, the Nepalese contingent carried out their duties while they also grieved for those who lost their lives in the disaster. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) made free calls available so Nepalese peacekeepers could stay in touch with loved ones back home.

Members of the Nepalese battalion man a guard post that overlooks a protection-of-civilians site in Juba in May 2015. Nepalese forces help to protect civilians in South Sudan by patrolling across the country, facilitating the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and providing a secure environment for displaced people living in UN protection camps.

Nepalese peacekeepers on a foot patrol in South Lebanon in November 2017 along the so-called ‘Blue Line’ separating the country from Israel.

Nepalese personnel currently service in 14 missions around the world, including in hotspots such as Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic (CAR). Men and women of the Nepalese Police Unit of the UN mission in CAR (MINUSCA) are seen here during a medal parade in March 2018.

: Members of the Nepalese special forces serving with the Joint UN-African Union Mission in the Darfur region of Sudan (UNAMID) are pictured conducting a medical treatment campaign in the village of Kuma Garadayat in May 2011. The event was part of efforts to bring aid to areas which had been inaccessible due to conflict for months, if not years.

UNAMID peacekeepers from the Nepalese police contingent during a June 2018 patrol in Masteri, West Darfur. As part of its protection-of-civilians mandate, the Joint UN-AU Mission conducts daily patrols in various villages and camps housing internally displaced people across the Darfur region of Sudan.

Taking the temperature of COP24 climate action in Poland

Taking the temperature of COP24 climate action in Poland

At the UN climate conference in Katowice, Poland, otherwise known as COP24, participants have been posting their messages of hope for Planet Earth.

Furniture made from repurposed wooden pallets provides a comfortable break for delegates at the COP24 climate change conference in Poland.

From day one, the idea of saving the planet was fostered by the arrival of a group that cycled more than 600 kilometers from Vienna to Katowice, to show the value of “clean mobility” and demonstrate a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Civil society representatives at the COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland show their support for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UN Climate Change chief Patricia Espinosa (left) listens to the concerns of a group of “climate pilgrims,” who had walked from the Vatican to the COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland...

Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger, the head of the UN climate change convention, Patricia Espinosa, the representative of an indigenous community in the Sahel, Hindou Ibrahim and COP24 President, Michał Kurtyka take to the stage

An innovative approach to growing wheat on a thin layer of earth and woven burlap fabric is highlighted at the COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland.

Greta Thunberg, 15, a Swedish activist provides a view of young people at the COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland.

Delegates to the COP24 climate conference in Katowice, Poland take a break at a cafeteria.

More women police officers needed in UN peacekeeping missions

More women police officers needed in UN peacekeeping missions

Police officers from around the world serving in UN peacekeeping missions are coming together at UN Headquarters to discuss policing issues and in particular how to increase the number of women serving under the UN flag.

An Indonesian police officer takes part in a search of a UN peacekeeping mission protection of civilians site in Juba, South Sudan.

Police women march at the UNAMID commemoration of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers at the Arc Compound, in 2011.

UNAMID Police Facilitates English Classes for Displaced Women in El Fasher, North Darfur, Sudan.

An UNPOL officer interacts with an internally displaced person in a UN camp in Juba, South Sudan.

Farkhanda Iqbel (righ), UNAMID police woman from Pakistan, embraces a Sudanese Policewoman before participating in a march organized by UNAMID to commemorate the International Women's Day in El Fasher, North Darfur. (file)

Female members of the Rwandan Formed Police Unit provide support for a visit by fellow United Nations officers to vulnerable women and children living in the Protection of Civilians site in Juba, South Sudan.

Women officers of the Formed Police Unit of the Indian contingent of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) participate in a medal parade held in honour of their service in 2008.

Unaisi Bolatolu-Vuniwaqa (centre), United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Police Commissioner, and women from United Nations Police (UNPOL) Women's Network, visit Juba Children's Hospital and Juba Teaching Hospital where they make donations of non food items..The Police Commissioner greets a child.

Photo Story: Calendar winners offer window on world weather

Photo Story: Calendar winners offer window on world weather

The sun rise seen from 5000 meters behind Iztaccihualt mountain in Mexico.

The northern lights or aurora borealis in Kilpisjarvi, Finland.

A rainbow over lake Barmsee in Mittenwald, Germany.

Sunset in the Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda.

A summer evening in Smolensk, Dorogobuzh, Russian Federation.

Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Sunrise and a rain cloud come together in Laamu Atoll, Maldives.

Boya Lake Provincial Park in British Colombia, Canada at midnight.

A shelf cloud, attached to the base of the parent cloud approaches the coast of the Island of Pag in Croatia.

Secretary-General António Guterres pays official visit to India

Secretary-General António Guterres pays official visit to India

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres (c) pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat memorial in New Delhi on 2 October 2018 to mark the beginning of the celebrations of his 150th birthday.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres (r) pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat memorial in New Delhi on 2 October 2018 to mark the beginning of the celebrations of his 150th birthday.

Secretary-General António Guterres along with Yuri Afanasiev UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative in India and UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore at the inauguration of the ONE UN House in New Delhi.

Secretary-General António Guterres plants and waters a tree at the newly-inaugurated ONE UN House in New Delhi.

Secretary-General António Guterres delivers a public lecture on the topic 'Global Challenges and Global Solutions' to young people at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi, India. 2 October 2018.

Secretary-General António Guterres (centre) honors Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India with the Champion of Earth award, the highest environmental honour of the United Nations, at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra in New Delhi. UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim (right) looks on.

Secretary-General António Guterres pays visits to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, where he expressed his gratitude for a place that receives and shares with everybody.

Secretary-General António Guterres (second right) visits the Golden Temple also known as Sri Harmandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib, in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the holiest place of worship and the most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism.

Secretary-General António Guterres pays visits to the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, where he expressed his gratitude for a place that receives and shares with everybody.

Photo story: Our seven favorite images of the week

Photo story: Our seven favorite images of the week

A sign at UN Headquarters highlights the hash tag to promote the seventy-third session of the of the General Assembly in September 2018.

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, participates in a Facebook Live session with Femi Oke, television presenter and journalist on 23 September 2018.

Protocol steams flags towards SG billets meeting.

A participant in the seventy-third 73rd General Assembly at the United Nations in New York sets up an unorthodox work place.

A participant at a meeting at the UN on 26 September 2018.

The rain pours down in New York as journalists report from the UN General Assembly in September 2018.

Looking north on the UN campus towards the General Assembly building.

A UN Security officeron duty at an event in the UN General Assembly hall.

Photo story: Gender parity to fore at UN

Photo story: Gender parity to fore at UN

Left to Right: Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; Anne Gueguen, Vice-President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly and Deputy Permanent Representative of France to the UN; and Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management at the General Assembly Debate. 28 September 2018.

Secretary-General António Guterres (right), greets Michelle Bachelet (centre), United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, during an event on economic growth through women's empowerment. 27 September 2018.

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (right), President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly, reviews her remarks before attending the opening of the high-level meeting on the fight against tuberculosis on 26 September 2018.

A participant takes a photo of Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed (left) speaking with Federica Mogherini, European High Representative for Foreign Affairs, at the launch of the EU-UN Spotlight Latin America programme. 27 September 2018.

Participants at the event "12 Years to Break Barriers and Leave No Girl Behind: Countdown to 2030." 25 September 2018.

A group of participants of the 2018 high-level week pose for a selfie in the rose garden of UN Headquarters on the third day of the General Assembly's seventy-third general debate.

UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Anne Hathaway (right), moderates a panel at the HeForShe IMPACT Summit in New York City on 26 September 2018. (l) HeForShe Corporate Impact Champion Kevin Sneader, Global Managing Director at McKinsey & Company.

Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, carries her daughter Neve between meetings on the third day of the General Assembly's seventy-third general debate. 27 September 2018.

Photo story: Presidents, activists, celebrities

Photo story: Presidents, activists, celebrities

Secretary-General António Guterres (standing) shares a laugh with participants of an event on the margins of the general debate of the seventy-third General Assembly. Also pictured (seated left to right): Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, UK Prime Minister Theresa May, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Lorena Castillo de Varela, First Lady of Panama, adds a flag to the wall at the VIP Social Media Zone after her Facebook Live interview on the second day of the General Assembly's seventy-third general debate.

French President Emmanuel Macron participates in a Facebook Live event on 25 September 2018 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. 25 September 2018.

Celebrity chef and World Food Programme supporter, Manal al Alem of Jordan, appears at the VIP Social Media Studio at UN Headquarters on the margins of the seventy-third session of the UN General Assembly. 26 September 2018.

Morena Herrera, social activist from El Salvador, holds the sign "Her Story Our Story" at the launch of the Spotlight Latin America programme, which will fund targeted interventions, aiming to eradicating femicide in Latin America.

Actor and activist Winston Duke at the HeForShe IMPACT Summit in New York City on 26 September 2018.

Detail of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) logo during the SDG Moment before the opening of the annual general debate. The Moment aims to draw the attention of the world leaders to the importance of taking bold action on the SDGs as they prepare to engage with and address one another at the General Assembly and in the debate. 25 September 2018.

Participant of events held on the first day of the high-level week of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly pose in front of the Sustainable Development Goals emblem. 24 September 2018.

Photo story: Presidents and prime ministers meet at the Security Council

Photo story: Presidents and prime ministers meet at the Security Council

The UN Security Council meets to debate the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on 26 September 2018.

A UN staff member distributes documents in the Security Council chamber ahead of the meeting on the Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction on 26 September 2018.

UN Security Council members, including US President Donald Trump (c), gather in the chamber ahead of a debate on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on 26 September 2018.

A UN close protection officer on duty at UN Headquarters at high-level week in September 2018.

Officers of the New York Police Department line up on motorbikes outside the UN Secretariat on 1st Avenue in September 2018.

US President Donald Trump presides over a meeting of the Security Council on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction on 26 September, 2018.

Journalists wait close to the media stake-out located outside the UN Security-Council.

Broadcast journalists report live from the seventy-third session of the UN General Assembly in September 2018.

People on the Move: a global story

People on the Move: a global story

People internally displaced by conflict return home after spending more than seven years in a camp in Aramba, North Darfur. Aramba, Sudan. July 2011.

A woman and her child in the IDP village near Mopti. The village is located on the outskirts of town and hosts around forty families, most of whom fled the Timbuktu region.

An aerial view of Zaíatri refugee camp near Mafraq, Jordan, host to tens of thousands of Syrians displaced by conflict. 7 December 2012.

Refugees on their way to Sweden are shown arriving by train in Copenhagen. These refugees participated in a special resettlement program for refugee families with one or more members with physical handicaps.

Palestinian refugee children in the U.N. demilitarized zone at Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) on the Israeli-Syrian frontier. Tiberias, Israel. c.1950

Vietnamese refugees living in their boats at the Government Dockyard in Kowloon, Hong Kong. 1979

As a contribution to World Refugee Year, launched in June 1959, Colombia admitted 150 refugee families to the country. Bogota, Colombia. July 1961

A boy watches the shore from a boat near Sirajganj, a community affected by severe erosion that has left many displaced. Sirajganj, Bangladesh. October 2016

Hairdresser Najibullah, 28, cuts a customer's hair at his barber's shop in Moynerghona refugee camp, Bangladesh. Moynerghona, Bangladesh. December 2017

World leaders' speeches underway

World leaders' speeches underway

Opening of the General Debate of the 73rd session of the general debate of the UN General Assembly

A minute's silence is held for the late UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan at the opening of the General Debate of the 73rd session of the General Assembly.

María Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly ascends the podium of the assembly hall.

The US President Donald Trump addresses the general debate of the General Assembly on 25 September, 2018.

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, (l) and António Guterres, UN Secretary-General in GA 200, where speakers wait before addressing the General Assembly. (24 September 2018)

The Vienna Cafe, a meeting place for diplomats beneath the UN General Assembly hall

UN Secretary-General António Guterres (r) meets Michel Temer, President of Brazil on Tuesday 25 September.

UN gears up for busiest week of year

UN gears up for busiest week of year

Secretary-General António Guterres (right) participates in a Facebook Live session moderated by Femi Oke, television presenter and journalist.

Graça Machel (center), member of The Elders and widow of Nelson Mandela, makes remarks during the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit at the General Assembly on 24 September 2018. Also pictured on the dais (left to right): Secretary-General António Guterres, General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, and USG Catherine Pollard (DGACM).

Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and US President Donald Trump (right) at a High-level Event on Counter Narcotics, convened by the United States, at UN Headquarters in New York, on 24 September 2018.

Out around the United Nations building in New York during the opening day of the General Debate in September 2017.

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (centre), President of the seventy-third session of the General Assembly and Secretary-General António Guterres (right) participate in a ceremony held to unveil the Nelson Mandela Statue gifted to the United Nations by the Republic of South Africa.

Inna Modja (at microphone), singer from Mali, performs with her band during the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocates Reception 2018.

Young musical performers during the annual Peace Bell Ceremony held at United Nations Headquarters in observance of the International Day of Peace (21 September).

Miniature flags of United Nations member states on display at the VIP Social Media Zone at UN Headquarters.

Kofi Annan: A life of service to people across the world.

Kofi Annan: A life of service to people across the world.

Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan at Oxford, UK. 2006.

The former Secretary-General, Kofi Annan pictured in Zambia in 1971 whilst on a fellowship study programme.

Secretary General Kofi Anann of the United Nations meets the President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Monrovia in July 2006.

Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan (centre) and his wife Nane Annan, visit Soweto, South Africa in March 2006.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (second from left) and his wife, Nane Annan, (left) visit the pediatric wing of the Zinder Hospital, Niger in August 2005.

The former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and the United Nations jointly were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.

Former Secretaries-General Kofi Annan (left) and Ban Ki-moon (right) pay a courtesy call on Secretary-General António Guterres in October 2017.

Kofi Annan, 8 April 1938 - 18 August 2018

India: A long and deep tradition of contributing to UN peacekeeping

India: A long and deep tradition of contributing to UN peacekeeping

Indian peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo secure a helicopter landing site in the far east of the country in 2015.

Indian peacekeepers take part in a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) exercise to practice evacuation and landing on a beach in Gaza in 1958.

Women from the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services are interviewed before being deployed to the United Nations Operation in the Congo in 1960.

Women police officers from India on patrol in Monrovia, Liberia in 2007 as part of the UN peacekeeping mission, UNMIL.

United Nations Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) Indian Battalion (INDBAT) engineering platoon reconstructs the access routes in the region of Barentu. May 2001.

Indian doctors at the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo perform cataract surgery on local people.

Indian peacekeepers providing much-needed veterinary support to local farmers and cattle breeders in South Sudan.

Peacekeepers serving with the Indian military contingent of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) during a “stand to” drill in Pibor, Jonglei State.

Indian peacekeepers with the UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) practice yoga on International Yoga Day on June 21st, 2015.

Malawi: Serving in some of Africa’s most challenging locations

Malawi: Serving in some of Africa’s most challenging locations

UN peacekeepers from Malawi patrolling North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UN peacekeepers from Malawi patrol the North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2014.

Malawian UN peacekeepers on patrol alongside government forces in North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Malawian peacekeepers in Côte D'Ivoire were key to the success of the UN mission there, known as UNOCI.

Major Madalitso Malata from Malawi, deployed with at UNAMID Force Headquarters as an Operations Officer.

Officers from the Malawi Police Service have been deployed to the UN mission in Darfur, UNAMID.

Malawian UN peacekeepers on patrol with government forces in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in March 2014.

Kenya: A key supporter of UN peace operations

Kenya: A key supporter of UN peace operations

Kenyan police officers with the UN Mission in South Sudan are honoured in June 2018 for their service, including community policing and ensuring the safety of displaced people.

Kenyan peacekeepers serving in South Sudan’s Warrap State, Medical Officer Captain Njuki, examines a pregnant woman suffering from malaria, a condition which can sometimes lead to miscarriages.

Kenyan troops serving with the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) patrol the disputed area of Abyei, claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan.

In August 2017, Lieutenant-General Leonard Muriuki Ngondi of Kenya was appointed as Force Commander of the African Union‑UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

In April 2018, Lieutenant-General Ngondi handed over rehabilitated classrooms, an office and educational material to Al Bashir Basic School for boys in the Abu Shouk area, in El Fasher, North Darfur. The project, implemented by UNAMID peacekeepers, is part of the mission’s continued support to boosting education across Darfur.

A Kenyan police officer serving with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) stands at attention for the national anthem during an awards ceremony at Camp Clara, in Monrovia, in May 2014. .

Ruth Kefa, a Kenyan corrections officer with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), shares a laugh with a student at JJ Roberts High School during an outreach event in the capital, Monrovia, in October 2012.

Niger: Partnering with the UN to help countries transition from conflict to peace

Niger: Partnering with the UN to help countries transition from conflict to peace

A Malian child receives a free consultation at a medical clinic in Gao run by the Nigerien contingent of the UN mission in the country, known by its French acronym, MINUSMA.

A medic from MINUSMA’s Nigerien contingent provides free medical care in Gao.

UN peacekeepers from Niger stand at attention at the Niger Battalion Base in Ansongo, in eastern Mali, in February 2015.

Brigadier General Christian Thiebault (right), MINUSMA Force Chief of Staff, looks at a map along with two officers from the Niger Battalion during a military operation in Ansongo, in eastern Mali, in February 2015.

In May 2018, a UN team led by human rights officers travelled to the Menaka region in northern Mali to investigate armed attacks, in which at least 47 people were killed. Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) of the Niger Contingent serving with MINUSMA are s

In places like Mali, UN peacekeepers protect civilians against attacks and support the delivery of crucial humanitarian assistance. A peacekeeper with the Nigerien contingent during a visit to Menaka, in eastern Mali, in February 2015.

A MINUSMA peacekeeper from Niger catches up on reading during some downtime in Menaka, in eastern Mali, in February 2015.

Mamadou Youba Diallo, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of Niger, lays a wreath on a casket of a fallen peacekeeper at the memorial ceremony for seven Nigerien peacekeepers killed in Côte d'Ivoire in June 2012.

Jordan and the UN: Serving the cause of peace together for decades

Jordan and the UN: Serving the cause of peace together for decades

A Jordanian FPU member interacting with a child in the Zam Zam camp for IDPs in North Darfur in April 2014.

Jordanian peacekeepers serving with the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) providing a hot meal to school children in the country’s largest city, Abidjan, in October 2013.

Jordanian peacekeepers with the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) deliver school kits to children in Abidjan in this October 2013 photo.

Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet greets two police advisors from Jordan during his June 2012 visit to the West Darfur team site of the UN-African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

Sadias Adam Imam collects millet near El Fasher, North Darfur, escorted by Jordanian peacekeepers serving with UNAMID in November 2010.

A Jordanian member of UNAMID while on patrol in the Zam Zam camp in 2015.

Jordanian members of UNAMID are seen here at the Zam Zam camp for IDPs in 2015. Over the years, 60 Jordanian nationals have lost their lives while serving in UN peace operations.

A Jordanian officer with UNAMID in discussions with residents of the Zam Zam camp for IDPs in 2015.

Zambia and the UN: a partnership for advancing peace around the world

Zambia and the UN: a partnership for advancing peace around the world

Zambian peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) patrol the streets of Abyei, the disputed area on the border of Sudan and newly independent South Sudan.

UNMIS Troops Prepare to Patrol Town of Abyei, in Sudan.

UNMIS Patrols Abyei Area in wake of clashes.

Troops at the Peace Mission Training Center in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, undergoing training provided courtesy of the United States ahead of their deployment to CAR.

Troops at the Peace Mission Training Center in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, undergoing training provided courtesy of the United States ahead of their deployment to CAR.

Brazil’s enduring contribution to UN peacekeeping

Brazil’s enduring contribution to UN peacekeeping

Brazilian Peacekeepers patrol Ciité Soleil,the poorest and more dangerous slum in Port au Prince, Haiti. 17 February 2010.

Brazilian soldiers, part of the UN Emergency Force in Gaza, are seen here keeping a watch on the Armistice Demarcation Line, at the southernmost portion of the Gaza strip.

Peacekeepers of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III (UNAVEM III) Brazilian battalion on welcome parade during the visit of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. 25 March 1997.

Brazilian peacekeepers in the neighborhood of Ciité Soleil, Haiti. 14 December 2004.

Members of the Brazilian battalion of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) teach a group of local children proper dental care.

Brazilian United Nations peacekeepers distribute tarps and tents in down town Port au Prince Haiti.

Brazilian peacekeepers of UNIFIL Maritime Task Force watching the opening match of the 2014 Brazil World Cup on board of the MTF’s flagship “Liberal” docked at Beirut Port. June 12, 2014.

At MINUSTAH's Argentinian Military Hospital, a Memorial Ceremony is held in honor of the life of the late Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, before his body is sent back to Brazil for burial.

UNISPACE+50 exhibition: Science fiction becoming reality

UNISPACE+50 exhibition: Science fiction becoming reality

Glimpses of the UNISPACE+50 exhibition, which features over 40 exhibitors showcasing the latest advances in space technology and a preview of what is to come in the near future.

A child in a astronaut suit experiences the moon in a 360 virtual reality at the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme exhibit.

At the ispace exhibit, an exhibitor explains the MOON VALLEY concept, where Earth and Moon become “one system”.

A HEPTA-SAT training kit at the UNISIC-Global exhibit. The actual satellites themselves, which are already in use, are exactly same size as these kits.

A model of the China Space Station at the China Manned Space Agency. The Station is expected to be operational from 2022.

UN Champion for Space Scott Kelly signs autographs and interacts with children at the UNISPACE+50 exhibition.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen (centre), UN Office at Vienna Director-General Yury Fedetov (right), and UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo (left) look at the UNOOSA exhibit “Space at the United Nations:1958–2018”.

The UNOOSA exhibit “Space at the United Nations:1958–2018” showing key events and milestones.

Land of Opportunities: refugees in Kenya fashion their entrepreneurial skills

Land of Opportunities: refugees in Kenya fashion their entrepreneurial skills

Esperanza in her workshop in Kakuma Refugee Camp, North-West Kenya.

Esperanza with fellow women from Kakuma Refugee Camp, North-West Kenya.

Esperanza in her workshop in Kakuma Refugee Camp, North-West Kenya.

Aerial view of part of the Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya.

A shop owner at the shop in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya.

A Barber shop in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya 2016.

United Nations High Commissioner for Reguees Filippo Grandi on his visit to Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, 2016.

Esperanza and her daughter walking in Kakuma Camp, Kenya.

Small nation, big contribution: Togolese peacekeepers’ service and sacrifice vital to UN peace operations

Small nation, big contribution: Togolese peacekeepers’ service and sacrifice vital to UN peace operations

Here, a Togolese Police Officer leads a joint assessment (FSI-UNPOL) of the security situation in Bangassou, in the eastern part of crisis-torn Central African Republic.

A Togolose peacekeeper on a daily foot patrol.

A member of the Togolese contingent of MINUSMA ensures security during a daily patrol on the streets of Menaka, northern Mali.

Doctors from Togo, members of MINUSMA aero-medical evacuation team, evacuate a seriously injured civilian from Gao to Bamako, in collaboration with Serval and MINUSMA Aviation unit.

Togolese Police Officer Solange Tcholké, of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic ( MINUSCA), receives the UN medal from Deputy Mission chief (political) Kenneth Gluck on 27th March 2018.

Blue Helmets from Togo stand at attention during the visit of UN Security Council to Mopti.

UN Doctors from Togo, members of MINUSMA aero-medical evacuation team, evacuate a seriously injured civilian from Gao to Bamako, in collaboration with Serval and MINUSMA Aviation unit.

UNISPACE+50: Space for better future

UNISPACE+50: Space for better future

Left: Secretary-General U Thant (centre) with Soviet cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin (right) and Valentina Tereshkova (left), the first man and woman in space, respectively. Right: Scott Kelly, the UN Champion for Space, on board the International Space Station where he spent an entire year in space.

Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space

The first man and woman in space, Soviet cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin (right) and Valentina Tereshkova (left), were guests of United Nations Secretary-General U Thant (centre) at United Nations Headquarters in New York

The United Nations General Assembly adopts the

The first UNISPACE conference also features a space exhibition at the Messehalle in Vienna.

United States astronauts and representatives present United Nations Secretary-General U Thant with a piece of lunar rock and the United Nations flag that accompanied astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins on the journey to the moon in Apollo 11 in 1969.

The crew of the second Shuttle-Mir Docking mission hold a copy of the Outer Space Treaty that they signed in orbit to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations by holding an interactive video conference with the crew of the second Shuttle-Mir Docking mission

Secretary-General Kofi Annan meets Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut to travel into space. Liwei presented the United Nations flag flown aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft.

Indonesia commits to eliminate all forms of child labour by 2022

Indonesia commits to eliminate all forms of child labour by 2022

Watering plants is part of the tasks of children that work in the plantation and agricultural sector in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

Hard lives of plantation children in Indonesia.

Children work at the food production, producing Indonesian traditional chips, in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia.

Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General, speaking at the opening session of the 107th Session of the International Labour Conference. Geneva, 28 May 2018.

M. Hanif Dhakiri, Minister of Manpower of the Republic of Indonesia, at the UN Office in Geneva.

Indonesian child labourer in fishing and footwear sector.

Laughter and smiles of street children in Jakarta, Indonesia.

World Oceans Day

World Oceans Day

Manta rays in Bali, Indonesia navigate through plastic pollution.

Underwater photographers have been drawing attention to the dangers of plastic pollution in oceans across the world as part of completion to highlight World Oceans Day.

Fish and other marine life often mistake plastics for food, which if ingested can be fatal.

Discarded fishing lines and hooks are also deadly; this decomposing green turtle was ensnared in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea.

Paddle boarders from the Pacific island of Tonga demonstrates the innate bond humans have with the ocean.

A tiger shark interacts with a diver in the Bahamas showing the sometimes intimate relationship between humans and marine life.

Domenico Tripodi’s image of dusted feather worms taken in Reggio Calabria, Italy, in the Mediterranean Sea.

Blacktip reef sharks - Carcharhinus melanopterus - gather at sunset near the surface in French Polynesia.

Aerial view from Handrema point in Mayotte.

Woman elected as head of UN General Assembly for fourth time in 73 years

Woman elected as head of UN General Assembly for fourth time in 73 years

Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés of Ecuador, newly-elected President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, addesses Member States.

María Fernanda Espinosa Garces is only the fourth woman in the 73-year history of the United Nations has been elected as President of the General Assembly, the UN’s main deliberative and policy-making body. She is the Foreign Minister of Ecuador.

Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés of Ecuador, newly-elected President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, addresses Member States.

In 1953, India’s Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, pictured at UN Headquarters alongside the then Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, was elected as the 8th and first woman President of the General Assembly.

The PGA is the most senior UN official with a range of different duties, including presiding over concerts held in the UN General Assembly Hall. In 1953, a recital was held by the UN Metropolitan Opera of New York.

Liberia’s Angie Brooks became the second PGA in 1969. In this photo taken at the UN before she was elected she confers on the issue of self-governing territories in South West Africa with a Haitian colleague.

A young Liberian woman takes notes at a 2010 meeting at the centre on women, peace and security.

Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain became the third woman PGA in 61st session of the General Assembly in 2006.

She was only the third woman in six decades to preside over the General Assembly. Here she is pictured at the end of her term with the then Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

In Mali, UN Peacekeepers help maintain a fragile peace agreement

In Mali, UN Peacekeepers help maintain a fragile peace agreement

A Togolose peacekeeper on a daily foot patrol.

Chinese peacekeepers at a medal parade in Mali.

A UN convoy travels between Gao and Kidal, in northern Mali.

UN police known as UNPOL (pictured) patrol in Timbuktu, in northern Mali, offering protection to people in the city against terrorist threats and organized crime.

An explosive Ordnance Disposal Company from Cambodia leaves for Gao on a UN plane.

In the village of Bara located 85 km from the city of Gao, members of a MINUSMA patrol talk to local people about the challenges they face. Radical groups carry out targeted kidnappings and assassinations.

On the border with Niger, Nigerian troops support the local population to detect possible cases of Rift Valley Fever, a flu-like illness.

UN medics from Niger give free medical consultations to locals at their clinic in Gao.

A Guinean contingent set up positions on higher ground around Kidal to prevent terrorists from shelling a MINUSMA camp.

Contribution of men and women recognized as UN peacekeeping marks 70th anniversary

Contribution of men and women recognized as UN peacekeeping marks 70th anniversary

UN Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Sinai Peninsula.

Major-General Carl C. von Horn (Sweden), Chief of Staff of the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), is greeted by Lt. Colonel Souad Kemal, Syrian Liaison Officer.

Major Emilio Altieri (Uruguay) - riding a horse while on patrol along the cease-fire line; here, he exchanges a few words with a group of Kashmiris he met on the way. 1955.

Swedish Units with the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. 1957.

Members of the Indian contingent of the U.N. Force in the Congo (ONUC) help a wounded Indian Officer into a Swedish armoured vehicle.

Dutch troops, from the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), guarding a train with refugees returning to Cambodia from camps in Thailand. May 1993.

A peacekeeper from Ghana stands guard during a senior UN official’s visit to Cestos City in 2012. Some 16,000 peacekeepers from over a dozen countries served in Liberia from 2003 to 2018.

UNPOL and Timor Police Investigate Domestic Abuse.

The United Nations Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) delivers elections materials and security personnel ahead of the Haitian elections scheduled for Sunday, January 29, 2016.

Morocco’s longstanding commitment to serving the cause of peace

Morocco’s longstanding commitment to serving the cause of peace

A Moroccan peacekeeper serving with MINUSCA is seen here escorting a UN delegation in Bambari, 400 kilometers north-east of the CAR capital, Bangui, in June 2014.

Doctors from the Moroccan contingent of MONUSCO are seen here in February 2005 treating refugees who fled their homes following fighting in Che, in Ituri province.

A funeral service held in Abidjan in September 2005 for Corporal Aziz Radi, a Moroccan peacekeeper with the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), who died of wounds sustained in an attack by unidentified assailants in Bouake.

Members of the Moroccan battalion of UNOCI distribute water to villagers during a joint patrol with the members of the Licorne Forces – a French military operation in support of UNOCI – in January 2007 in Bouake.

Moroccan peacekeepers with UNOCI unload provisions for people displaced by violence in Duékoué in March 2011. The area was plunged into crisis when fighting erupted between military forces loyal to former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and supporters of the internationally-recognized new president, Alassane Ouattara.

A Moroccan peacekeeper serving with UNOCI is seen here on guard duty in Taï in July 2012 during a visit to the area by the head of the mission.

The Moroccan Guard Unit (MGU) in the Central African Republic during a medal ceremony at its camp in Bangui in August 2014. UN Photo/Catianne Tijerina

Honey for Money: UN peacekeeping patrols support economic lifeline in South Sudan

Honey for Money: UN peacekeeping patrols support economic lifeline in South Sudan

Women in a rural community in conflict-affected South Sudan are hoping to enjoy the sweet rewards of beekeeping and processing honey as the UN peacekeeping mission in the country steps up patrols to boost security in the area.

Thirty-eight-year-old Alice Mamur from Wulu in central South Sudan learnt beekeeping from her father. “I am proud to be a woman working with my own hands to make a living to help my family.”

Beekeepers collect honey in the forest using traditional methods including beehives made from bamboo.

Alice Mamur says that she used to produce honey only for consumption in her home, as an ingredient for beer and for wedding gifts, but now she is hoping to sell it further afield.

A major challenge is getting the honey to market. The ongoing conflict in South Sudan means it has been too dangerous travelling by road. But now, increased patrols by UN peacekeepers in the Wulu area mean the roads are more secure and so trade can flourish.

Local people have more confidence to move around the area. Alice Mamur says that she “feels safe” when she sees UN peacekeepers in her area. But deeper in the forest she sometimes “get harassed by men with guns. They steal our honey, slap us, and sometimes do other things to us.”

The beekeepers of Wulu believe there is a market as long as they can safely transport their product.

As the first World Bee Day is marked on 20 May, they say it is important to build peace so that the honey business can reach its full potential.

Rwanda: Working with the UN to help save lives in the world’s trouble spots

Rwanda: Working with the UN to help save lives in the world’s trouble spots

A Rwandan peacekeeper serving with the mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is seen here during a mission to deliver water to the village of Tora in in April 2010.

The arrival in October 2010 of 89 Rwandan policewomen to the Darfur region of Sudan to serve with UNAMID.

UNAMID Force Commander Lieutenant General Patrick Nyamumbwa of Rwanda (left) celebrates the opening of 10 new classrooms in three primary schools in the Abu Shouk camp for internal displaced people in North Darfur.

Rwandan peacekeepers march at UNAMID’s headquarters in El Fasher during the 2012 commemoration of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.

UNAMID’s Rwandan peacekeepers escort the mission’s staff working on child protection as well as disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration, on a July 2015 trip from El Fasher to Kafoud in North Darfur.

A UNAMID peacekeeper from Rwanda paints a wall at the Alfaki Abdallah Albigawi Basic Level School for girls in El Fasher, North Darfur, as part of the commemoration of the 2011 Nelson Mandela International Day.

Twenty-seven Rwandan police officers serving with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), including six women, received their service medals during a ceremony held in the capital, Juba, in September 2015.

Rwandan peacekeepers serving with UNMISS work with the local community to construct a new school for children in Kapuri in October 2014.

A Rwandan police officer serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) speaks to the local population during a patrol in the northern town of Gao in May 2014.

France: UN founding member and fifth largest financial contributor to peacekeeping

France: UN founding member and fifth largest financial contributor to peacekeeping

Seen here are French peacekeepers with UNIFIL’s demining team at work along the Blue Line in South Lebanon in 2011.

A French peacekeeper with UNIFIL chats with students during French language classes at Burj Qalaway public school, in South Lebanon, in 2013.

A French medic with UNIFIL performs a checkup on a student at Burj Qalaway public school, in South Lebanon, in 2013.

A French peacekeeper with UNIFIL instructs a student during French classes at Burj Qalaway public school, in South Lebanon, in 2013.

Indonesian and French peacekeepers deployed with UNIFIL are seen here conducting a joint patrol along the Blue Line near the town of El Adeisse, South Lebanon, in 2013.

UN police officers from France and Pakistan prepare to conduct a crowd control exercise with members of the Haitian National Police in April 2008.

French UN peacekeepers escort a detained man from a camp for internally displaced persons in Haiti during a security operation carried out by UN military and police along with the Haitian National Police in June 2010.

Female UNIFIL peacekeepers honoured at a ceremony in Tyre, southern Lebanon. The Lebanese National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) presented medals to 17 women peacekeepers, including one from France. .

Seen here are UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other dignitaries at the Bastille Day parade in commemoration of the 6oth anniversary of UN peacekeeping in Paris on 14 July 2008.

Ethiopia: A leading contributor to UN peacekeeping efforts

Ethiopia: A leading contributor to UN peacekeeping efforts

Ethiopian soldier Tesfaye Asehe, with the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), during a patrol in a camp for internally displaced persons in Gereida, South Darfur, in July 2012.

Ethiopia was among the countries that sent contingents after the Security Council authorized a UN military presence to help restore order and calm in the Republic of the Congo. Troops are seen here in Debre Zeit before departing for Congo in July 1960.

In February 2010, Ethiopia provided five tactical helicopters to the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID).

The two boys seen here are chatting with UNAMID peacekeepers from Ethiopia in the volatile Gereida area of South Darfur in July 2012.

Two UNAMID mechanics from Ethiopia – Sergeant Meseret Adera and Corporal Seblewengel Demesse – repair a vehicle at a workshop at the Gereida team site in South Darfur. UNAMID deployed a battalion from Ethiopia to protect civilians in July 2012.

UNAMID troops from Ethiopia and Rwanda escort World Food Programme (WFP) trucks during a trip from El Fasher to Shangil Tobaya, in North Darfur, in February 2014. The journey, nearly 100 kilometres, took more than 8 hours due to difficult road conditions.

Ethiopian peacekeepers during a ceremony to mark the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, in May 2016, in Juba, South Sudan. The event was held at the headquarters of the UN Mission in South Sudan under the theme “Honouring Our Heroes."

UNMISS peacekeepers provide protection at designated times to women when they go out of the Protection of Civilians sites to collect firewood and procure other non-food items.

An Ethiopian peacekeeper with UNMISS accompanies internally displaced women as they collect firewood in Juba. Some of the collected firewood will be used for cooking; some will be sold in the market.

Indonesia’s proud history of service to UN peacekeeping

Indonesia’s proud history of service to UN peacekeeping

First Lieutenant Sigit Jatmiko, a member of Indonesia's Formed Police Unit serving with the African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), interacts with children in the Abu Shouk camp for displaced persons during his morning patrol. (5 August 2012

A traditional "good-bye" in the Indonesian way by Capt. Andjar Rachman (r), Aide to the Commander of the Garuda II Battalion of the Indonesian National Army, as the Battalion prepared to leave Jakarta to take up duty with the UN Force in the Congo.

Mr. Yudhoyono (right) and then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from right) don UN blue berets as they look at a display at the Indonesia Peace and Security Centre in Jakarta during the Secretary-General’s visit in March 2012.

Members of the Indonesian contingent of the UN mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), seen here in August 2014, were among the first to arrive after the Security Council voted to send peacekeepers to help restore order in the country in the af

UN peacekeepers at the launch of a road reconstruction project in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, in September 2014. The construction project was carried out by Indonesian peacekeepers in cooperation with the engineers of the Ministry

Indonesian Engineering Company of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) rehabilitating the Gada Bridge. Located 74 kilometres from Dungu, this bridge plays a vital role in supporting the local populati

Lieutenant Colonel Yenni Windarti, a member of the Indonesian police unit with UNAMID, interacts with women and children at a water point in the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons during a morning patrol in El Fasher, North Darfur.

In August 2015, the Indonesian battalion hands over a hand water pump in Al Riyad camp for internally displaced persons, in West Darfur.

UNAMID peacekeepers from Indonesia conduct a medical campaign at the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons in North Darfur in February 2017, providing free basic check-ups as part of its outreach efforts.

New agricultural heritage sites; farming in harmony with nature

New agricultural heritage sites; farming in harmony with nature

Rice Terraces System in Southern Mountainous and Hilly Areas, Longsheng Longji Terraces, China.

Traditional Mulberry System in Xiajin’s Ancient Yellow River Course, China.

Zhejiang Huzhou Mulberry-dyke & Fish-pond System, China.

Traditional Wasabi Cultivation in Shizuoka, Japan.

Chinampa Agricultural System in Mexico City, Mexico.

Barroso Agro-Sylvo-Pastral System, Portugal.

Malaga Raisin Production System in Axarquia, Spain.

Burkina Faso: a partner for peace in hot spots in Africa and elsewhere

Burkina Faso: a partner for peace in hot spots in Africa and elsewhere

Peacekeepers from Burkina Faso patrol the streets in Ber, a little village 60 km north-east of Timbuktu, in Mali, in April 2014.

Farewell ceremony in honour of six Burkinabe peacekeepers from MINUSMA who died during an ambush on the Goundam-Tombouctou axis, in Mali, in July 2015.

Peacekeepers from Burkina Faso provide security at the entrance of a stadium before the beginning of the match between teams of two neighbourhoods in Timbuktu, Mali, in December 2013.

A UNAMID peacekeeper from Burkina Faso, who is based in Forobaranga, West Darfur (Sudan), checks a map during a patrol to Tamar village, in October 2013.

A UNAMID convoy from Forobaranga, West Darfur (Sudan), escorted by troops from Burkina Faso, goes on patrol to Tamar village, in October 2013.

A dentist from Burkina Faso assists a local patient in the UNAMID base in Forobaranga, West Darfur (Sudan), in October 2013.

Police Superintendent Yvette Boni Zombre from Burkina Faso received the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award in 2016 for her service and achievements in the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Egypt’s service to UN peacekeeping over the decades

Egypt’s service to UN peacekeeping over the decades

Youssif Shalabi, an Egyptian serving with UNAMID, on patrol in Um Kadada in North Darfur in September 2011.

Egyptian peacekeepers with UNAMID distribute water and flour to the local population in Um Kadada (North Darfur) in September 2011.

Doctor First Lieutenant Mohamed Ismad Anwar, a member of the UNAMID Egyptian contingent based in North Darfur, is examines a patient at the clinic at the team site.

An Egyptian peacekeeper prays beside the coffins of two colleagues killed in action in South Darfur in May 2010. Three other peacekeepers were seriously wounded in an ambush carried out by a group of unidentified armed men.

Ahmad Al Gohary, Egyptian peacekeeper of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)

Ahmad Al Gohary, Egyptian peacekeeper of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)

An Egyptian peacekeeper observes the activity of the city of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), from the heights of Mount Goma. Egypt first joined UN peacekeeping in 1960 in the Congo. (January 2016)

An Egyptian battalion patrol in the surroundings of Camp Lieutenant General Jean-Lucien Bauma, which is hosting former FDLR combatants, in Kisangani, in DRC’s Oriental Province. (January 2015)

Troops from the Egyptian Special Forces Contingent serving with the UN mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) carry out tactical training in South Kivu to enhance their responsiveness in dealing with armed groups as outlined in the mission’s mandate. (January 201

Italy: Working with the UN for peace in south Lebanon

Italy: Working with the UN for peace in south Lebanon

Italian peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, patrol the so-called “Blue Line” demarcating the border between Lebanon and Israel.

Members of the Italian Helicopter Wing attached to the peacekeeping mission rush a wounded patient to the UN hospital in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, for emergency treatment. (1 May 1980)

UN‬ firefighters during an evacuation exercise at a helipad in the mission’s headquarters in Naqoura in 2016. The event was organized to mark the 65th anniversary of the ITALAIR, Italy’s aviation unit.

Italian deminers clear an area close to the Blue Line near Yaroun village. Mine clearance activities are vital to enabling the peacekeeping mission to deploy and carry out its operations. (8 April 2010)

With a smile and a red nose, Warrant Officer Walter Mazzocchi (Italy) brings the healing power of laughter to students in the Ayta Ash Shaab School for Children with Special Needs. (30 March 2013)

Students at the Tyre Public Technical School learn how to slice gnocchi dough during a cooking course offered by the Italian contingent of the UN peacekeeping mission. (5 March 2014)

Capt. Giorgio Battisti (foreground) of Italy reports from the Golan Heights as part of his work with the UN mission tasked with supervising the armistice agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbours, known as UNTSO. (26 April 1973)

A Military Liaison Officer of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), looks through binoculars during a ceasefire monitoring patrol in Oum Dreyga, Western Sahara (June 2010).

Liberia: 15 years of UN peacekeeping

Liberia: 15 years of UN peacekeeping

Former combatants turn in their weapons at Camp Schieffelin, outside Monrovia, during the disarmament campaign.

Liberian voters in Doe Township stand in knee-deep water waiting to cast their vote in the first democratic election since the end of the civil war.

Medical units in the UN mission provide critical health assistance in addition to security, particularly in rural area where existing facilities are inadequate.

Indian contingent of the UN mission, consisting mostly of women, swaps its black beret for the UN blue beret on arrival in Monrovia to begin its tour of duty.

Pakistani peacekeepers teach young Liberians to lay bricks as part of a job training programme offered by the contingent in Tubmanburg.

Newly appointed President of Liberia, George Weah (centre left), walks with former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (centre right) during the inauguration ceremony in Monrovia.

Service and Sacrifice: Tanzania’s unwavering commitment to UN peacekeeping

Service and Sacrifice: Tanzania’s unwavering commitment to UN peacekeeping

UN police officers Mwamini Rwantale (Tanzania) and Nyima Barrow (Gambia) interacting with women who receive English classes in the Abu Shouk camp for internally displaced persons in North Darfur.

A woman rides a donkey loaded with water jerry cans, while Tanzanian troops with the Joint UN-African Union mission in Sudan’s Darfur region (UNAMID) conduct a routine patrol in the camp for internally displaced persons in Khor Abeche. (30 June 2014)

UNAMID police officer Grace Ngassa (Tanzania) and Community Policing Volunteer Jazira Ahmad Mohammad interact with a woman in the Zam Zam camp for internally displaced persons in North Darfur.

UNAMID’s police component in West Darfur conducted a training session on baking Tanzanian cakes, known as mandazi, for 30 displaced women from the Abu Zar camp for internally displaced persons.

Tanzanian special forces establish communications with their counterpart forces during an operation in Kalima forest in Rutshuru, Democratic Republic of the Congo in December 2016.

A ceremony in Beni, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, paying tribute to the 14 UN peacekeepers who were killed during an attack on the UN mission’s base in Semuliki.

Pakistan: One of the longest-serving and largest contributors to UN peacekeeping

Pakistan: One of the longest-serving and largest contributors to UN peacekeeping

A Pakistani medical officer serving with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) examines an infant in a maternity ward in Tubmanburg in February 2009.

Brigadier-General Said-Uddin Khan (right), Commander-in-Chief of the UN Security Force (UNSF) George J. Janecek and several Pakistani Officers viewing the departure of about 100 Pakistani soldiers serving with the UN Security Force in West New Guinea (Wes

Pakistani peacekeepers serving with the UN mission in CAR (MINUSCA) are seen here arriving in the capital, Bangui, in September 2014.

Pakistani troops are seen here providing escort to NGO and media personnel in South Kivu in January 2015.

Farkhanda Iqbel, a Pakistani police officer serving with the Joint UN-AU peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region (UNAMID), attends the opening ceremony in March 2014 of the El Raman Women Shopping Centre.

A Pakistani peacekeeper teaching a young Liberian to sew as part of the programme offered in Tubmanburg in May 2010.

Seargent Saif (right), Signal Technician serving with the Pakistani battalion of UNMIL, along with Lt. Shafqat, conduct a five-day computer course for young Liberians in June 2013 at Camp Clara, the battalion’s headquarters outside of Monrovia.

A member of the Pakistani contingent of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) is seen here providing medical consultations to civilians in Korhogo, in the country’s Poro Region, in May 2014.

Private Johar Nafees (centre), a member of the Pakistani contingent of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), leads a prayer during the farewell ceremony in Khartoum for Sergeant Nazir Ahmed, who died in the line of duty in October 2006.

Senegal: Partnering for peace with the UN in some of the most challenging places

Senegal: Partnering for peace with the UN in some of the most challenging places

In May 2016, then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon led a ceremony to award the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage. Mr. Ban is seen here with Yacine Mar Diop, the widow of Captain Diagne, after he presented her with the inaugural medal.

Senegalese soldiers serving with the African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) train at the team site in Um Baro, in North Darfur, in November 2011, where they performed a number of tasks, including protection of civilians.

UN peacekeepers perform a range of duties while on mission, including providing much-needed medical assistance. Doctor Lt. Famara Seck, pictured here, assists a local patient at the clinic of the Senegalese team site in Um Baro, in North Darfur.

Women gather at a women's centre in Kuma Garadayat, constructed by UNAMID peacekeepers from Senegal, in 2012. This centre is one of six development projects, known as Quick Impact Projects, carried out by the Mission in the areas of education, sanitation,

Fellow peacekeepers pay tribute to Brigadier-Chief Diene Racine of Senegal, who was killed in Bangui, Central African Republic in June 2016.

Senegalese police officers serving with the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) patrol Mamadou Konaté Stadium during an event organized by the mission to promote peace in January 2016.

Senegal is the largest provider of police to UN peacekeeping, with over 1,200 currently serving in six operations. Seen here is a joint exercise between the Senegalese Formed Police Unit and a Malian Gendarmerie mobile unit at the Gendarmerie School in Ba

Senegalese peacekeepers during a night patrol in Gao, Mali, in May 2017. The patrols provide the soldiers with an opportunity to talk with people they meet on the streets, listen to their concerns and help them.

Captain Mohamed Mbaye of the Senegal Attack Helicopter Unit (SENAHU), which has been deployed in the Central African Republic since November 2015. The Unit carries out a number of tasks to enable the Mission to better protect civilians and peacekeepers as

Uruguay: Helping the UN to keep the peace around the globe for nearly 70 years

Uruguay: Helping the UN to keep the peace around the globe for nearly 70 years

Major Emilio Altieri of Uruguay is seen here on horseback while on patrol along the cease-fire line in Kashmir in January 1955.

A Uruguayan peacekeeper monitoring the situation in Bogoro, in Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Uruguayan peacekeepers serving in the DRC patrol the town of Pinga to secure the area after the withdrawal of a militia group in December 2013.

Uruguay currently has over 900 peacekeepers in DRC, its largest contingent in UN peacekeeping. Members of the Uruguayan contingent, seen here, carry out a patrol on Lake Albert in October 2006 to prevent the illegal flow of arms between DRC and Uganda.

In addition to UNMOGIP and MONUSCO, Uruguayan peacekeepers currently also serve with the UN missions in Central African Republic and Haiti. Members of the Uruguayan contingent are seen here receiving medals of recognition during a ceremony in Les Cayes,

Uruguayan women and men who serve in UN peace operations help to provide security and promote reconciliation, clear land-mines and demobilize combatants, strengthen institutions and the rule of law, and support elections. Seen here is former Secretary-Gen

Service and Sacrifice: Honouring Nigeria’s contribution to UN peacekeeping

Service and Sacrifice: Honouring Nigeria’s contribution to UN peacekeeping

Two Nigerian female soldiers posted in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

Voters inspecting ballot papers on election day in Montserrado in October 2005.

UN peacekeepers from Nigeria on an evening patrol in the streets of the capital, Monrovia.

Corporal Memunatu Yahaya during an inspection at the UN base in Monrovia.

Lance Corporal Titilope Adepoju, a female peacekeeper from Nigeria posted in Monrovia, speaks with a relative on video-chat from her base.

Nigerian police officers conduct drills with Congolese recruits and local policemen in Bukavu in May 1963.

Female police officers from Nigeria engaging with local children as they patrol the slum of Martissant in Port au Prince as part of their duties with the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti in 2009.

Nigerian police patrol the northern Malian city of Timbuktu.

Nigerian UN police officers serving with MINUSMA take part in crowd control training along with Malian police officers at the Ecole Nationale de Police in Bamako.

British commander at UN Mission in South Sudan serves as role model for young women

British commander at UN Mission in South Sudan serves as role model for young women

Caption: Lt. Col. Katie Hislop, the first female contingent commander to serve with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), greets children in the Bentiu Protection of Civilians site.

Since 1948, thousands of troops from the United Kingdom have taken part in UN peacekeeping operations. More than 100 have paid the ultimate price while defending civilians and supporting operations approved by the UN Security Council. Pictured, UK enginee

Some 600 UK personnel are currently deployed in UN peacekeeping operations, the majority in South Sudan and Cyprus. Their largest presence is currently in South Sudan, where 400 troops, including 41 women, are deployed with the UN mission in the country i

Corporal Heather McQueen is a vehicle mechanic and maintains all UN engineering vehicles in Malakal, South Sudan. Pictured, Heather speaks with Angelo, a local colleague who assists in maintaining the vehicles. Heather teaches Angelo about how to repair v

The UK contribution to UN peacekeeping in South Sudan includes a UK C-130, which flies the Entebbe-Juba-Malakal route, moving humanitarian-enabling supplies, UN material and vehicles, including to the hard-to-reach base in Malakal.

Besides contributing troops to South Sudan and Cyprus, the United Kingdom is the sixth largest contributor of financial assistance to UN peacekeeping. Pictured, the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland wearing the distinctive blue

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

Fatima, 7, sits on a bed in her home in Afar region, Ethiopia. She was subjected to FGM/C when she was 1 year old.

At a community meeting in Kabele Village, Ethiopia, former FGM practitioner Boko Mohammed holds the tool she used to use while performing the procedure.

A young woman in an Ouagadougou clinic in Burkina Faso has undergone reconstructive surgery to repair the damage caused by female genital mutilation at age 6.

In Mali, Fanta talks about the health complications she continues to experience as a result of female genital mutilation. While renounced in Sébétou Village in 2009, an estimated 85 per cent of Malian girls and women aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to FGM.

Displaced women and men in Chad celebrate 'circumcision' days for girls by dancing together. During that time, several 11-years-olds were mutilated.

Pictured in Ethiopia is 6-year-old Asmah who underwent FGM because her mother, Bedria, believed she could not marry honourably without it, saying, "From our own experience we know that [cutting] causes problems. However it is the tradition."

Women chat together in the village of Halajay Gawra, northern Iraq, one of the villages UNICEF is working with to become “FGM-free.”

Jaha Dukureh, activist and FGM survivor speaks to journalists at a press conference on Engaging Health Workers to End Female Genital Mutilation.

Service and Sacrifice: Chadian peacekeepers on a UN mission for peace in Mali

Service and Sacrifice: Chadian peacekeepers on a UN mission for peace in Mali

Chadian peacekeepers with MINUSMA patrol near Kidal in northern Mali in December 2016.

A day with the Tchadian in Kidal

MINUSMA Chadian contingent patrol the streets of Kidal, Kidal the 17th of December 2016.

The Chadian troops protect convoys in the most dangerous regions controlled by terrorist groups. Pictured, officers checking for explosives. “We cannot go for 200 kilometers, 300 kilometers without being blown up by a mine,” said Colonel Abdelsalam Malick

Patrols last throughout the night, with troops on duty stopping only to eat, stretch their legs and pray.

Chadian UN peacekeepers patrol the area outside the Chadian Base where the military delegation from Bamako is meeting with Commander of Chadian UN peacekeepers Gen. Moussa in Tessalit, North of Mali.

MINUSMA Chadian contingents patrol the streets of Kidal, 17th of December 2016.

MINUSMA Chadian contingents patrol the streets of Kidal, Kidal the 17th of December 2016.

Bangladesh: Three decades of service and sacrifice in UN peacekeeping

Bangladesh: Three decades of service and sacrifice in UN peacekeeping

A Bangladeshi contingent on patrol in the Central African Republic, one of 10 peacekeeping missions where Bangladeshis are serving under the UN flag.

In Haiti, an all-female Bangladeshi Formed Police Unit serving with MINUSTAH at its departure ceremony. The 160-strong contingent focused on reconstruction efforts after the deadly earthquake in 2010.

Peacekeepers on patrol in Bunia, Ituri Province, DRC. At least 132 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of peace.

A patrol commander from the Bangladeshi battalion meets with the chief of ADA village, in the Ituri Province of eastern DRC, during a routine security patrol.

A UN peacekeeper from Bangladesh provides free medical consultations to residents of a community in the Central African Republic.

In 2017, Bangladesh sent two female combat pilots to the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) – Flight Lieutenant Nayma Haque and Flight Lieutenant Tamanna-E-Lutfi.

Bangladeshi engineers serving with the UN mission in South Sudan are leading efforts to improve a 78-kilometre stretch of road between Gumbo and Mangalla, on the artery between Juba and Bor.

Rakhine crisis: UN responds to mass exodus from Myanmar

Rakhine crisis: UN responds to mass exodus from Myanmar

Violence in Myanmar caused a mass exodus of civilians. Pictured, people crossing from Myanmar into Cox’s Bazar, a thin stretch of beach in south-eastern Bangladesh.

Women in Basara camp for internally displaced persons outside of Sittwe, in Rakhine state, in December 2013.

A boy outside his family hut in Basara camp for displaced persons on the outskirts of Sittwe in December 2013.

Displaced persons near Sittwe in December 2013

Rohingya refugees

Rohingya refugees

Rohingya refugees

Rohingya refugees

Refugees setting up temporary shelters among rice fields, after crossing the border.