Thirty Cambodian peacekeepers have completed a month-long explosive ordnance disposal training course, made possible with cooperation and financial support from France, according to the National Center for Peacekeeping Force, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (NPMEC).
The course’s closing ceremony was presided over by General Pol Saroeun, Senior Minister in Charge of Sending Troops to UN Peacekeeping Missions, along with French ambassador Jacques Pellet on February 10, the NPMEC said in a statement later that day.
At the ceremony, NPMEC deputy director-general Prak Soth commented that the training was designed to ensure that the 30 trainees – two of them women – from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and Ministry of Interior are able to successfully execute at least basic relevant operations in national and UN missions, according to the statement.
Similarly, the NPMEC cited Jacques Pellet as saying that the course will allow Cambodian peacekeepers to meet UN requirements while on missions.
“The French ambassador to Cambodia also voiced his support and willingness to accompany the [NPMEC] in its ambitions to become a centre of excellence in the realm of maintaining the peace,” it said, adding that General Saroeun thanked “close-friend” Paris for its pursuit of peace and development in Cambodia.
