Marking the UN Day UNIFIL honours 66 long-serving Lebanese staff, 22 October 2010

22 Oct 2010

Marking the UN Day UNIFIL honours 66 long-serving Lebanese staff, 22 October 2010

Naqoura, Lebanon – The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) today joined the global observance of the United Nations Day (24 October) in a ceremony at its headquarters in Naqoura in southern Lebanon.

UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas presented certificates honouring 66 Lebanese national staff members of UNIFIL who have had long years of service in the mission: 28 staff members for 30 years and 38 staff members who have completed 25 years of service with the United Nations.

The ceremony was attended by peacekeepers representing the 32 different national contingents that make up UNIFIL, senior officers of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Lebanese authorities, as well as representatives from various international organizations, NGOs and UN agencies.

In a speech on the occasion, Major-General Asarta recalled the universal values that underlie the global mission of the United Nations and UNIFIL's role in southern Lebanon in this context. "Over the past 30 years, the mission has represented an important tool in the hands of the United Nations," he said.

He noted that cooperation of the Lebanese Armed Forces has been central to the implementation of UNIFIL's mandate, as also the support, cooperation and good-will extended to UNIFIL by the people of south Lebanon.

The Force Commander thanked the LAF and all the UNIFIL staff who have worked relentlessly towards the accomplishment of the mission's mandate and paid tribute to those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace serving with UNIFIL and to peacekeepers all around the world.

The day is observed annually to mark the founding of the United Nations with the entry into force of the United Nations Charter on 24 October 1945.

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For further information, please contact the UNIFIL Public Information Office:
Spokesperson Neeraj Singh: +961 1 827 681; +961 70918500 (cell); email: singh60@un.org
Deputy Spokesperson Andrea Tenenti: +961 1 827 068; +961 70910064 (cell); email: tenenti@un.org
Fax: +961 1 827 016

View the UNIFIL website: http://unifil.unmissions.org