Cambodian peacekeeper awarded with UN medal
Cambodian female peacekeeper, Lt. Col. Chea Maysaros, received the United Nations Medal for accomplishing her UN mine clearance mission in Lebanon.
Earlier this month, Lt. Col. Maysaros was formally awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation for his courage and determination.
She said she was thrilled to receive such an honor.
Its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan and Labanon started on February 1 last year and it ended on February 2 this year.
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn also congratulated Lt. Col. Maysaros on receiving the UN medal.
“We are also particularly proud that our women have contributed to peacekeeping operations in other parts of the world; and we will continue to promote the ‘Women, Peace and Security’ agenda,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
“In this regard, we express our sincere congratulations to Lt. Col. Chea Maysaros, who was recently awarded the United Nations Force Commander’s Commendation and other honors for his courage and determination,” he said. said Sokhonn. “We are proud of you and many others who carry out their noble mission for global peace and security.”
Lt. Col. Maysaros said she was deputy commander in charge of the demining, food and logistics unit, made up of 180 men and 30 women in the camp in Lebanon.
“In the past, people always thought that a woman was weak and couldn’t work as hard as men,” she said.
She said she and her team were stationed along the Lebanese and Israeli border.
She added that during her work, the problem the women faced was not having toilets in the work areas. She said they also faced hot temperatures and health issues, but endured them to do their jobs.
“Our mission was to clear mines along the border and allow people to build houses or plant crops safely,” Lt. Col. Maysaros said. “It is proud for our country to have received such a medal.”
She said that during her mission she saw no other female deputy commanders and only men in high positions.
Kosal Malinda, spokesman for the National Center for Peacekeeping Forces and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance, said yesterday that Cambodian peacekeepers are hard-working and deserve praise.
“I would like to express my gratitude and I am proud of the Cambodian peacekeepers for their successful missions,” she said, noting that Cambodia had sent peacekeepers abroad for the first time as part of of the UN mission in 2006.
The country has so far dispatched about 8,300 peacekeepers, including about 600 women, to participate in UN missions in Sudan, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Chad, Syria, Lebanon and Mali. , she said.
- Keywords: demining mission, female peacekeeper