Schoolchildren send holiday tributes to Kenyan peacekeepers at UN ceremony

17 December 2007 – Senior United Nations officials, members of the diplomatic corps, hundreds of troops and leaders of Kenya’s armed forces gathered yesterday in the capital, Nairobi, for a tribute by area school children to the country’s vast contributions to peacekeeping.

Held at the Department of Defence Headquarters, the event organized by UNIC Nairobi saw the Chief of the General Staff, General Jeremiah Mutinda Kianga receive over 2,000 homemade Christmas and New Year messages from students for Kenyan soldiers who are currently serving in Peacekeeping missions around the world. 

General Kianga said that “children were the greatest consumers of peace and soldiers the greatest providers of peace – and thus it was right that they were united in peace as exhibited at this event.” Calling this “the first time anyone in Kenya had thanked soldiers for their sacrifices on behalf of peace,” General Kianga thanked both the assembled children and the UN for remembering the troops serving in dangerous missions.  He said that the holiday cards and letters were going to be a “great morale-booster”.

Speaking on behalf of the UN Country Team, Olivia Yambi, UNICEF Representative, underlined Kenya’s importance to UN peacekeeping and promised an even larger contingent of students and messages the following year when the initiative will be extended across the country, affording all Kenyan schoolchildren the opportunity to show their appreciation to Kenyan peacekeepers.

Ms. Yambi said that “Kenyan peacekeeping troops are heroes to these children because they have refused to pay the price of indifference. In fact, this nation’s Armed Forces have been refusing to pay the price of indifference for many years and, 33 times, it has paid the ultimate price for peace in some far away lands”.

She added that “today, thanks to nations’ like Kenya, the distinctive Blue Helmets of United Nations peacekeepers are one of the world’s most enduring images”. 

The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) sent Mr. Ian Steele who read a statement on behalf of Azouz Ennifar, Acting Special Representative.  Mr. Ennifar paid tribute to Kenya peacekeepers and recalled that on their arrival in 2001 “they were immediately deployed to the port town of Assab in the Eastern sector where they played a vital role monitoring the buffer zone that separated the two armies”.

Mr. Ennifar went on to tell the gathering that “the performance of Kenya’s peacekeepers has been superb” and thanked the military leadership for providing the mission with valuable demining specialists. Mr. Ennifar added that he knows “that our Kenyans serving with UNMEE will be thrilled to be remembered by the children of their Nation. It is especially difficult for them to be away from their families and loved ones at this time of year”.

The children’s’ cards and letters will be distributed by the Department of Defense to 1085 Kenyan soldiers who are currently serving in eight different peacekeeping missions around the world.

Click here for more photos of the ceremony