Cambodia will send 204 members of the engineering force to the Central African Republic later this month as part of a one-year UN peacekeeping mission, the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War (NPMEC) told The Post on Wednesday.

NPMEC spokeswoman Kosal Malinda said the 204 members, of whom 10 are women, will join peacekeepers from other countries in the construction of roads and peacekeeping forces’ headquarters, as well as carry out mine clearance.

“In this mission, our blue helmet forces will be stationed in two locations – Bria and Bambari,” she said.

Since 2006, she said, Cambodia has sent a total of 6,300 peacekeepers, 300 of them women, with skills in mine clearance, engineering,

public order, level 2 hospitals and airport engineering to Sudan, South Sudan, Chad, Syria, Cyprus, Central Africa, Lebanon and Mali.

“More than 800 Cambodian peacekeepers, 60 of them women, are currently fulfilling their missions under the UN umbrella in five countries – Central African Republic, Lebanon, Mali, Sudan and South Sudan,” she said.

Malinda said Cambodia’s active participation in international peacekeeping missions shows that the Kingdom had fully implemented memorandums of understanding it had signed with the UN and demonstrates the country’s commitment to peace.

Paulin Tamesis, the UN coordinator in Cambodia, recently said Asean member states have provided strong support to UN peacekeeping missions.

She took particular note of Cambodia, which ranks 29 out of the 122 countries that have contributed to the UN peacekeeping missions.

“In the peacekeeping sector, the Royal Government of Cambodia has shown a vision aimed at ensuring the sustainability of sending peacekeeping forces.

“It is committed to continue participating in UN missions as its contribution to the international community and to seek peace for other countries in the world at the request of the UN,” she said.