Since 1948, over two million UN peacekeepers from 125 countries have helped people and countries transition from conflict and have worked to secure sustainable peace. Every day, more than 87,000 women and men serve in peace operations and work to protect vulnerable people across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Working closely with local communities, UN peacekeepers are actively contributing to promoting political resolutions, preventing conflicts, safeguarding civilians, upholding human rights and the rule of law and achieving sustainable peace.

Today, peacekeeping is more challenging than ever. Amidst heightened global tensions, intricate conflicts and a rampant spread of misinformation and disinformation, UN peacekeepers persevere and continue their tireless pursuit of peace, working alongside partners and communities.

At its best, UN peacekeeping is a remarkable proof that multilateralism works. The European Union is a strong supporter of multilateral cooperation in support of peace and security. Together with the UN, we are working hand in hand to strengthen international security and peace. We stand for the same principles and we prioritise prevention and peacebuilding. 13 of the 21 EU Common Security and Defence Policy missions and operations are deployed alongside UN missions and, collectively, EU Member States provide 25% of the UN peacekeeping budget.

The UN-EU strategic partnership on peace operations and crisis management acknowledges the firm commitment to international order and to the longstanding UN-EU cooperation on peacekeeping and civilian, police and military crisis management. Building on previous UN –EU action plans, the UN-EU shared priorities for 2022-2024 endorse crucial matters of common interest such as the enhanced joint UN-EU efforts on the Women, Peace and Security agenda and gender equality.