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Ghana has been ranked by the United Nations (UN) among the 10 largest contributors of personnel towards peacekeeping operations of the world body, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Chris Kpodo, has said. He said Ghana remained committed to international peace and security and paid glowing tribute to the men and women who gallantly served and continued to serve the UN, as required by UN General Assembly Resolution 57/129 of December 2002. Mr Kpodo, who was speaking at the launch of the 2012 UN Peacekeepers Day in Accra Tuesday, commended Ghanaian troops for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage and honoured the memory of those who lost their lives in the cause of peace. This year�s international day is being marked in Ghana on the theme: �Peacekeeping as a Global Partnership: the Role of Ghana�. Among activities lined up for the two-week celebration are a flag-raising/wreath-laying ceremony on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 and television documentaries on peacekeeping. According to Mr Kpodo, the theme was in recognition of the role Ghanaian peacekeepers continued to play, coupled with the enormous sacrifices they made, since independence to bring relief and comfort to people who had been inflicted with conflicts all over the world. �The story of Ghanaian peacekeepers exhibiting the most successful combination of commitment, loyalty, initiative, courage and humility has been told and retold in almost all available literature on the subject,� the deputy minister indicated. He traced Ghana�s steadfast commitment to UN peacekeeping efforts to the 1960s when the country became one of the first to answer the call of the UN for troops to be dispatched to the then Congo barely 48 hours after the UN Security Council had passed a resolution establishing its mission there. He remarked that Ghanaians had since then served in more than 30 UN peacekeeping missions around the world. Notable among those who had served in UN peacekeeping missions are Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine (retd), the first Ghanaian Force Commander of UNIFIL, and Major General Henry Anyidoho (retd), the former Head of Ghana�s UN Peacekeeping Mission in Rwanda. Mr Kpodo acknowledged the considerable losses Ghana had suffered through its participation in UN peacekeeping operations, saying that �more than 100 Ghanaian personnel have made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the service of peace.� For him, the impact of the participation of Ghanaian troops on international peacekeeping had been significant for the fact that the personnel were using the experiences to contain and maintain peace in certain parts of the country. He used the occasion to urge Ghanaians to treasure the peace currently being enjoyed, especially at the time when the December elections were drawing closer. The UN Resident Co-ordinator, Ms Ruby Sandhu-Rojon, said the UN had, since 2003, paid tribute to the military, the police, as well as civilians, who sacrificed their lives to maintain world peace and that the UN Security Council had, since 1948, deployed peacekeeping observers throughout the world. Recognising Ghana�s role in the peace process, dating from its role in Lebanon, Kosovo and Liberia, Ms Sandhu-Rojon, who is also the UNDP Resident Representative, called on institutions to join in peacekeeping efforts, since maintaining the peace could not be the sole responsibility of any single organisation.