This year also marks 40 years of service from Fijian women and men serving in UN Peacekeeping Operations.
This was highlighted by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama while speaking at the High Level Meeting on Action for Peacekeeping in New York.
Bainimarama also highlighted that for 40 years, Fijians have made our contribution to defending the defenceless, fighting for the right of people everywhere to live in peace, security and stability.
He says today, we honour that great legacy of service and all of the lives saved by those courageous men and women peacekeepers in the decades since the first peacekeepers put boots on the ground in areas fraught with violence and conflict.
Bainimarama says Fiji is blessed to enjoy a measure of peace, security and prosperity that many millions of our fellow global citizens cannot.
The Prime Minister adds that this is why so many Fijians have been willing to enter the ranks of UN Peacekeepers; because people believe the right to peace should be enjoyed by all of humanity.
Bainimarama also pointed out that in Fiji, almost everyone knows someone who has served in the ranks of peacekeeping forces. It could be someone in their family, someone in their community, or someone who attended their school.
He adds that because Fiji is both a small nation and a proud one; and it is home to many tightly‑knit families and communities.
The Prime Minister says that Fiji supports every effort that makes for a more competent fighting force and is keen to see this force evolve and adapt to neutralise new and emerging threats to global security.
Bainimarama is in New York to attend the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, which will conclude next Wednesday.
