United Nations, May 9 (IANS) UN Security Council Thursday created a special medal for bravery in UN peacekeeping, naming it after a Senegal peacekeeper who saved the lives of hundreds of Rwandans during the 1994 genocide.

The council members adopted a resolution to establish “The Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage”, Xinhua reported.

The medal is to be awarded to “those military, police, civilian United Nations personnel and associated personnel who demonstrate exceptional courage, in the face of extreme danger, while fulfilling the mandate of their missions or their functions, in the service of humanity and the United Nations.”

With deep appreciation, the resolution noted how Captain Mbaye Diagne of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) saved hundreds of Rwandans from death during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

The notorious atrocity saw the massacre of an estimated 800,000 Rwanda Tutsis and moderate Hutus within 100 days.

As requested by the resolution, the medal will be presented by the UN Secretary-General to the recipient, or next of kin, in a ceremony to which all member states of the world body shall be invited.