Clooney wishes UN happy birthday

Actor George Clooney has praised the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in a new public service announcement marking their 60th anniversary.

The actor - who was designated a United Nations Messenger of Peace earlier this year - is featured in a segment entitled Peace Is Hard. Clooney's voice is heard over a video of soldiers in the UN forces as they carry out peacekeeping missions throughout the world.

He says in the clip: "Peace is certainly more than a celebrity endorsement. Peace is protecting civilians, overseeing elections and disarming ex-combatants… in places others can't or won't go."

The peacekeepers trace their roots back to 1948, when the UN sent observers to the Middle East to watch over the armistice between Israel and Arab states.

They now number 100,000 and are sent to countries including Haiti, Lebanon, Congo and Liberia.