About 110,000 UN peacekeepers from 119 countries are currently engaged in 20 peacekeeping missions (17 operations and 3 special political missions) across the world. Tomorrow, the United Nations will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the birth of the UN peacekeeping operations. On 29th May 1948, the Security Council established the first peacekeeping operation, the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (Untso), based in Palestine. In 2001, the UN general Assembly proclaimed 29th May "The World Day of the UN peacemaking forces" to pay tribute to the men and women who served such peacemaking operations. In the messag for the occasion, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon states that "peacekeeping has become one of the priorities for our organisation". A solemn ceremony at the Glass Palace in New York will commemorate the over 2,400 peacekeepers, including the 90 of 2007, who have sacrificed their lives in the last sixty years. The day after, the Dag Hammarskjold medals will be awarded in memory of those who lost their lives last year. Pakistan, Bangladesh and India account for 35% of the total number of Blue Helmets. The EU countries, Japan and the United States are the greatest supporters of these missions, with over 6 billion dollars a year.
