On the morning of October 24, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet attended an event in Kampong Speu Province commemorating the 20th anniversary of Cambodia’s participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations. He said Cambodia had deployed about 10,900 peacekeepers over the past 20 years to take part in UN missions in multiple regions.
Hun Manet said Cambodian peacekeepers had served in places including Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Lebanon, Syria, Mali, Cyprus, Yemen and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The scope of their missions had gradually expanded from early demining operations to military police, engineering construction, medical assistance, explosive ordnance disposal, as well as military observers and staff officers.
Cambodia formally joined United Nations peacekeeping operations in 2006. That year, then-Prime Minister Hun Sen responded to the UN’s call by sending the first 135 demining personnel to Sudan.
Data released on the day also showed that Cambodia ranked 24th among the 120 countries contributing peacekeepers to the United Nations and third among ASEAN countries. In the deployment of female peacekeepers, it ranked 13th globally and second in ASEAN, behind only Indonesia. Hun Manet said Cambodia would continue supporting UN peacekeeping operations and contributing to international peace and security.
