Today, May 29 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

UN peacekeeping is a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace.

UN peacekeeper, soldiers and military officers, police officers and civilian personnel from many countries, monitor and observe peace processes that emerge in post-conflict situations and assist ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements they have signed.

According to the official website, 130 UN peacekeepers lost their lives last year and 4,000 have died since 1948 when the UN peacekeeping mission began.

Currently, there are 12 U.N. peacekeeping missions. Four of the 5 most complex missions are in Africa (Malia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan).

1. 1992–1993 United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I) and United Nations Operation in Somalia II (UNOSOM II) in 1993–1995.

United Nations Operation in Somalia I was the first part of a United Nations (UN) sponsored effort to provide, facilitate, and secure humanitarian relief in Somalia, as well as to monitor the first UN-brokered ceasefire of the Somali Civil War conflict in the early 1990s.

United Nations Operation in Somalia II was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia, from March 1993 until March 1995, after the country had become involved in civil war in 1991.

2. 1960–1964 United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC)

The United Nations Operation in the Congo was a United Nations peacekeeping force deployed in the Republic of the Congo in 1960 in response to Congo Crisis. ONUC was the UN’s first peacekeeping mission with significant military capabilities, and remains one of the largest UN operations in both scale and operational scope.

3. 1998–2000 United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA)

The United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic, more commonly known as MINURCA was a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic. The 1350-troop mission was established by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1159 in March 1998. It was replaced in 2000 after the Central African Republic conducted two peaceful elections, with the entirely civilian composed UN Peace-Building Support Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA).

4. 1995–1997 United Nations Angola Verification Mission III (UNAVEM III)

The United Nations Angola Verification Mission III was a peacekeeping mission that began operating in Angola in February 1995 during the civil war. It was established by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 976, and concluded its mission in June 1997.

5. 2005–2011 United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS)

The United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) was established by the UN Security Council under Resolution 1590 of 24 March 2005, in response to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement on January 9, 2005 in Sudan.