AKP Phnom Penh, May 29, 2026 --

Cambodia has contributed more than 10,700 troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions over the past 20 years, marking one of Southeast Asia’s most sustained commitments to global security—at a significant human cost.

According to the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, a total of 10,723 personnel—including 1,052 women—have served in 12 UN missions across 10 countries: Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Chad, Lebanon, Cyprus, Mali, the Central African Republic, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But the deployments have come with heavy losses. Since 2014, 14 Cambodian Blue Helmets have been killed and 19 others wounded in the line of duty. Threats are evolving and relentless: improvised explosive devices (IEDs), clashes between armed groups, tropical diseases, climate extremes, and volatile security conditions.

Currently, 471 Cambodian troops—84 of them women—remain deployed worldwide. They operate in punishing environments, from Africa’s searing heat to sub-zero temperatures in the Middle East, confronting sectarian violence in the Central African Republic, tribal conflicts in South Sudan, and cross-border hostilities in Lebanon.

The Royal Government attributes its lasting commitment to direct orders from the country’s top leadership. At the 78th UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet vowed that Cambodia will continue contributing to global stability, security, and sustainable development.

Reinforcing that message at a UN peacekeeping ministerial meeting in Accra, Ghana, Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and defense minister declared: “Cambodia highly values peace and does not support war under any circumstances.”

By K. Rithy Reak