It is awarded to "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".

[1] It was created on 8 May 2014 by the United Nations Security Council in its Resolution 2154[a] and is named for Mbaye Diagne, a Senegalese Captain and Military Observer serving with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), who was killed in action in Kigali on 31 May 1994.

[2][1] The first medal was awarded posthumously to Diagne and was received by his widow and two children in the UN General Assembly Hall on 19 May 2016.

[4] On 26 May 2022, the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal was awarded posthumously to Captain Abdelrazakh Hamit Bahar of Chad for his bravery during his deployment with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).

On the front side of the gold-coloured medal is the emblem of the United Nations with the stroke United Nations, Exceptional Courage, on the back the stroke Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal, in the Service of Peace.