Miho Hirose, a Japanese civilian, was among the 117 fallen peacekeepers honored in memoriam Wednesday at an annual ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

As an officer on a U.N. peacekeeping operation mission in Central African Republic, Hirose died last June after contracting malaria, according to U.N. officials. She was included in the total count of military, civilian and police personnel who lost their lives while working in 16 peacekeeping operations last year.

She is also the first Japanese woman to die while on peacekeeping duty, according to the United Nations, and was working in the western city of Bouar in Central African Republic.