Kingdom ranks 17th for number of women in UN peacekeeping forces
CAMBODIAranks17th out of 122 countries for the number of women sent on UN peacekeeping missions, the Ministry of National Defence announced on Friday, after the global body expressed gratitude to the Kingdom for its contribution.
On Thursday, the UN’s officia l Facebook page posted a message thanking t he Kingdom’s militar y personnel for t heir “ser v ice and sacrifice”, a longside a photo of a smiling female Cambodian “blue helmet” in front of her peacekeeping comrades.
“Brave women and men from Cambodia leave their fa milies behind and are # Ser v ingForPeace with United Nations Peacekeeping missions around t he world. We thank t hem for t heir ser v ice & sacrifice,” t he UN post said.
The message had received 5,900 likes and been shared 6,300 times as of Sunday.
Ministr y of National Defence spokesman Chhum Socheat told The Post t hat the UN had praised t he Kingdom for the heroism of
its female peacekeepers.
He said it showed that the government had encouraged the granting of the same rights for young women as for men in fulfilling their duties.
“So we see t hat t his is a matter of pride for t he Royal Cambodian Armed Forces [RCAF] as well as the government and Cambodian people across the countr y – especially women, as the UN has singled out an outstanding female soldier for praise. It gives us great pride,” Socheat said.
Since 2006, Cambodia has sent 6,053 peacekeepers, including 285 women, to fulfil peacekeeping missions in countries including Centra l African Republic, Chad, Cyprus, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, South Sudan and Sy ria, the Ministr y of National Defence says on its website.
Socheat said that Cambodia currently has 797 RCAF members – 54 of whom are women – deployed on UN missions in Mali, Centra l African Republic, Lebanon, South Sudan, Darfur in western Sudan, and Abyei – an area in Sudan accorded “specia l administrative status” in 2004.
“Cambodia has become t he largest Asean contributor to peacekeeping forces on missions across t he globe.
“Cambodia was ranked 29th for men and 17th for women out of 122 countries by the UN for sending its forces to join UN peacekeeping forces,” t he Ministr y of National Defence website states.