Seventy years of peacekeeping and human rights

In May 1948, months before the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations created its first peacekeeping operation whose role was to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace, by monitoring an Armistice Agreement.

For the past 70 years, more than one million men and women have served under the United Nations flag in 71 peacekeeping operations. Their work has directly impacted the lives of hundreds of millions of people, protecting the world’s most vulnerable and saving countless lives. More than 3,500 UN peacekeepers from some 120 countries have died in service since 1948.

In more recent years, the UN Human Rights Office has also contributed to these efforts through the work of its human rights officers on the ground, looking at the root causes of conflict and social inequalities; helping bridge the divide between peace and security, development and humanitarian action; and ultimately, contributing to lasting peace and greater security for everyone.

Nicole Ngoy is one of our human rights officers based in the UN Joint Human Rights Office in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is also part of the UN mission in the DR Congo. She shares her passion for human rights work and how she endeavour to give a voice to the voiceless.

“Human Rights is my whole life,” she says. “It’s been a passion of mine since I was a child.”

Meet Nicole Ngoy.