Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Cambodia to Send 101 Cambodian EOD Forces to Central African Republic
AKP Phnom Penh, September 17, 2022 --
Cambodia is ready to deploy 101 new forces of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) to join the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.

The news was shared by H.E. Gen. Sem Sovanny, Director General of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces (NPMEC) in a meeting here in Phnom Penh on Sept. 15.
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Directors general, directors, experts and officials in divisions of the NPMEC participated in the meeting.

Since 2006, Cambodia has deployed more than 7,000 peacekeepers (over 500 of them are women) for 11 missions in nine countries: Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Lebanon, Mali, Syria, and Yemen.

Almost 800 Cambodian blue helmet troops are currently fulfilling their missions in Lebanon, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, and Central African Republic.
- AKP
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Over 3,000 Cambodian Troops Deployed for UN Peacekeeping Missions from 2018 to First Nine Months of 2022
AKP Phnom Penh, October 19, 2022 --
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From 2018 to the third quarter of 2022, Cambodia has sent in total 3,312 troops, 350 of them are female, for the UN peacekeeping missions in five countries.

The update was shared by H.E. Chhum Socheat, Secretary of State and Spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defence at a press conference here in Phnom Penh on Oct. 18.
The five countries are Sudan, South Sudan, Lebanon, Mali and Central African Republic, said the spokesperson.

There are currently 801 Cambodian peacekeepers, including 118 women, undertaking their UN missions in the five above-said countries.

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Since 2006, Cambodia has deployed 8,302 forces (580 are women) to carry out UN peacekeeping missions in nine countries – Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Mali, and Yemen.

According to an assessment of the United Nations in late 2021, Cambodia was ranked 28th out of 122 countries contributing forces for the UN peacekeeping operations, and 13th for female troop deployment.

In the ASEAN framework, the Kingdom was the 3rd biggest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping efforts and the 2nd largest female troop contributor.
AKP
(Photos: NPMEC)
Article in Khmer by Eang Bunrith
Article in English by Lim Nary
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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According to an assessment of the United Nations in late 2021, Cambodia was ranked 28th out of 122 countries contributing forces for the UN peacekeeping operations, and 13th for female troop deployment.

That's very impressive!
Once you've read the dictionary, every other book is just a remix.
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Some 340 Cambodian Peacekeepers Dispatched to Mali and South Sudan
AKP Phnom Penh, October 24, 2022 --
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A total of 346 Cambodian blue beret troops of the Airfield Engineer Unit 729, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 828, and the Gendarmerie Squadron Unit 171, including 67 women, have been deployed for the UN peacekeeping operations in Mali and South Sudan.

A send-off ceremony was held at the Multinational Peacekeeping Training School (PKO) in Kampong Speu province this morning in the presence of H.E. Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Chairman of the National Coordination Committee of UN Peacekeeping Operations; H.E. Sardar Umar Alam, Acting Coordinator of United Nations in Cambodia; and H.E. Gen. Sem Sovanny, Director General of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (NPMEC).

Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Sardar Umar Alam expressed his deep gratitude to the Royal Government, the Cambodian blue beret troops and the Cambodian people for their sacrifice for world peace. He also encouraged the Royal Government to continue to promote the Women, Peace and Security agenda, as the Women's Peacekeeping Force serves as a role model for gender equality and inspires girls around the world to take part in peacebuilding initiatives at home or abroad.
https://www.akp.gov.kh/post/detail/264637
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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rozzieoz wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 11:41 am According to an assessment of the United Nations in late 2021, Cambodia was ranked 28th out of 122 countries contributing forces for the UN peacekeeping operations, and 13th for female troop deployment.

That's very impressive!
It's also a good source of revenue
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Bluenose wrote: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:47 pm
rozzieoz wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 11:41 am According to an assessment of the United Nations in late 2021, Cambodia was ranked 28th out of 122 countries contributing forces for the UN peacekeeping operations, and 13th for female troop deployment.

That's very impressive!
It's also a good source of revenue
It is, that. From another country- regulars assigned to UN duties overseas would make significantly higher salaries during their deployment. Several times what their domestic take home would be. (It created quite a bit of animosity with the local militia types who weren’t eligible as they were non-regulars, despite having the same regular officers in commands, and carrying out parallel duties alongside the regulars)
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Freightdog wrote: Mon Oct 24, 2022 9:52 pm
Bluenose wrote: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:47 pm
rozzieoz wrote: Thu Oct 20, 2022 11:41 am According to an assessment of the United Nations in late 2021, Cambodia was ranked 28th out of 122 countries contributing forces for the UN peacekeeping operations, and 13th for female troop deployment.

That's very impressive!
It's also a good source of revenue
It is, that. From another country- regulars assigned to UN duties overseas would make significantly higher salaries during their deployment. Several times what their domestic take home would be. (It created quite a bit of animosity with the local militia types who weren’t eligible as they were non-regulars, despite having the same regular officers in commands, and carrying out parallel duties alongside the regulars)
TBH, I wasn't talking about salaries. I am sure those deployed will get some kind of allowance but generally their salaries are still paid by their own government at normal rates. I was referring to it being a good earner for the government as the UN pays the providing country per soldier per day/month.
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Here's the full list of countries who make up the UN Peacekeeping force at 30th September 2021

Bangladesh tops the list with 6447 under the blue beret

Cambodia is at 28th with 765

USA is at joint 82nd with 31.

They should send them into Ukraine, that's where the action is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_c ... ontributed
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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When I was flying out of Siem Reap to Vietnam, I was talking to a Canadian bloke who was married to a Khmer girl. He needed to go home before COVID closed the borders and the company he worked for had him scheduled to another job in the USA and his wife was scheduled to go on the next UN mission for a 6 month deployment. We were talking about it and how the conditions would be for her (I'd never worked with Cambodian peacekeepers). He said that basically the base she was at was locked down however she lived close so they allowed her to travel to and from each day which no one else apparently got the opportunity for. We talked about the pay and this is where it gets interesting. He said the allowance paid, sorry but I think from memory it was about $8 thousand for the 6 month deployment, of which the senior officers got half while the other half went to the soldiers. In his wife's case she was reluctant to go but the military wanted her as she was a part of the female quota and she had a required skillset so they only took a third of her allowance. It is still a great sum of money to anyone let alone the value of it in Cambodia.
I've worked with some of the various UN contingents from various countries and have found them to be an interesting crowd for the most part. Obviously some are there primarily because their governments rake in a hefty sum from the UN to supply the personnel and this in turn provides the "multi national" in front of the task force title.
Not going into specifics but there was an Asian contingent that were tasked with building a Bailey Bridge across a road that was washed away every wet season. The bridge was not long and shouldn't have taken long to construct (2 or 3 days was tops according to an Aussie army bloke and that included roadworks at either end) but it took these engineers a couple of months before completion. The locals were happy thinking they had an all weather bridge, the UN higher ups were happy because it was finished at last and the "builders" thought they had built something magnificent. Big opening ceremony with lots of handshakes, photos and back slapping obviously. The next day the bridge was closed as it was deemed to dangerous to use. Another dirt road exactly the same as before was built next to it which would wash away in turn during the next wet season downpours.
I worked alongside another contingent from that same Asian country along with one from a Middle Eastern country not long after. The Middle Eastern contingent were rushed in due to replace their counterparts who were sent home in dishonourable circumstances but I found the new replacement contingent a hardworking bunch and they were incredibly generous and even more so during Ramadan. Incredibly loyal to their King to the extent they all had grown moustaches the same as their leader had and the carried photos of him everywhere and throughout their living quarters each one had a photo above their beds. Alongside them were another contingent from that same Asian country that built the previously mentioned bridge who were at the opposite end of the scale. Both contingents were tasked with loading and unloading the supply barge which came in every few days when the weather allowed. The Middle Eastern blokes were always there and working their backsides off, unloading and distributing the cargo as well as doing border patrols, airfield security, rubbish collection and water distribution. The Asian troop who were tasked with only the role of assisting in the barge operation role so as to lighten the workload had the equipment required for the job bought and supplied to them by the UN. I saw them use it once and that was only because I spoke to their officer in charge several times asking for their assistance and only after I said I would be sending a report to headquarters did I get them to come down to the beach with the equipment. That's all they did though. They literally brought the machinery down to the beach and watched their Middle Eastern counterparts do all the work and then they went back to their compound in their nice and clean equipment I found out later that the machinery was going home with one very happy senior officer when the deployment was finished which I suspected was the case anyway. I did file a report to my bosses at HQ and was told later not to mention it as I would "upset" people so in other words my report was filed in the bin.
My Brother was in Somalia for one of his deployments working with the UN Taskforce there. The UN had ordered about a thousand port-a-loos which were unloaded off a ship by a UN contingent supplied from a North African country that was tasked with the unload and distribution of the cargo. However, the cargo went "missing" somewhere between the ship and the storage compound. The UN was in a fluster as this was going to be a bit of health and safety emergency as basically it would take several weeks to purchase, deliver, ship and unload another consignment. An officer from the North African contingent makes a phone call to the UN and lets them know that he has available as it happens a thousand port-a-loos that he will be only to happy to sell to the UN which they duly accepted no questions asked.
Sorry about going off track but while I think countries providing troops for various UN tasks is an admirable idea sometimes it is not the outcome you need nor want. Having said that this a great time for the Cambodians to learn new skills if they have that opportunity and by doing so they return home and pass those new skills on.
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Re: Cambodia's Outsize Contribution to UN Peacekeeping

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Cambodia News (Phnom Penh): On 1 December 2022 Prime Minister HE, revealed that three Cambodian peacekeepers were recently wounded in Mali while on a mission.
He said that the Cambodian Peacekeeping Army is currently in four countries, including Lebanon, South Sudan, Mali and Central Africa. Unfortunately, three days ago in Mali, three Cambodian peacekeeping soldiers were wounded by landmines.

According to the National Peacekeeping Center of Cambodia, the three Cambodian peacekeepers were injured by an MPV IED mine.
The victims were rescued by helicopter from the scene and transported to Sector West (Tumbuktu) Regional Hospital for treatment at a Nigerian Level 2 Hospital.

There are currently a total of 800 Cambodian Blue Hat troops carrying out UN peacekeeping missions in the countries abovementioned.
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