On 11 November, MINURSO celebrated Poland's Independence Day by raising its flag at the Mission headquarters in Laayoune next to the UN flag.

Poland is one of the 51 States signatories of the United Nations Charter and by 1946 has already served on the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member.

The country joined the UN peacekeeping operations in 1973 sending its first blue helmets to the UNEF II (United Nations Emergency Force II). Since then, Polish military contingents have served in UN Missions in Namibia, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, and Chad. Polish military observers have been deployed in Kuwait, Tajikistan, Georgia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Sudan and Western Sahara.

In MINURSO, Poland has deployed personnel to MINURSO since the establishment of the Mission in 1991.

The 11^th of November marks the restoration of Poland’s independence in 1918 after over a century of territorial division and foreign rule. The national flag shows two horizontal stripes: the upper white and the lower red, and the official emblem represents a white eagle with golden beak and talons. The flag that features Poland's white eagle set against a red shield on the white field is, according to Polish flag tradition, used by Polish ships at sea, diplomatic missions and other official institutions abroad.

Dziȩkujȩ Polsko!