NPMEC director general Sem Sovanny meets with UN Victims’ Rights Advocate Jane Frances Connors on October 31 to discuss strengthening the partnership. NPMEC
General Sem Sovanny, director-general of the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces (NPMEC), has requested that the UN provide additional legal training to members of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) before they are dispatched on peacekeeping missions. He specified that expanding their knowledge about the laws surrounding the protection of civilians, women and children would be valuable.
Currently, the Kingdom’s peacekeepers receive such training before deployment, but he believes that increased knowledge would allow them to complete their missions even more effectively.
Sovanny met with UN Victims’ Rights Advocate Jane Frances Connors on October 31 to discuss strengthening the partnership between the UN and the NPMEC on preventing and responding to topics related to rape and sexual exploitation, according to an NPMEC statement.
“Cambodia has deployed a force which is 47 per cent women to the mission area in South Sudan, 48 per cent in Mali, and has a female commander in the Central African Republic (CAR). The government is committed to ensuring that more than 20 per cent of the soldiers deployed are women. Currently, the Kingdom is ranked 10th out of 123 countries for troop donations per capita, and number 1 in ASEAN,” he said.
Sovanny suggested that further training to the peacekeepers would ensure that they could share what they had learned more widely.
Connors was pleased with Sovanny’s request, but noted that it was outside of her remit. She agreed to pass the request to her colleagues and inform the general about the outcome.
Am Sam Ath, deputy director of rights group LICADHO, expressed support for further training, in addition to the knowledge they have already acquired.
“The more they understand, the more it will help our forces carry out their missions abroad under the UN umbrella. This will make them more effective in their roles,” he said on November 1.
The Victims’ Rights Advocate position was established by the UN to ensure the voices of survivors and victims of sexual exploitation are heard. This promotes the UN secretary-general’s policy of putting their rights and dignity at the forefront of UN activities.
