Kathmandu, March 7

A total of 120 Nepali military police officers received the United Nations Medal in recognition of their contribution to the success of the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic.

The ceremony was held at their Bangui Mpoko base, in the presence of the special representative of the UN Secretary-General in CAR Parfait Onanga-Anyanga, Force Commander General Balla Keita, director of the Mission Support Division Milan Trojanovic, and his deputy Emmanuel Agawu, as well as representatives of the civilian and military entities of MINUSCA, according to a statement issued by the United Nations.

They are deployed throughout the territory of the Central African Republic. They patrol, conduct investigations, ensure the responsible conduct of MINUSCA civilian and uniformed personnel on the roads and in their areas of assignment, said a press release issued by the UN Information Centre, Nepal.

“Nepal has played a major role in the Force’s military police since 9 March 2015. There is only one contingent deployed in 10 detachments covering the entire mission area of ​​responsibility,” said the commander of the contingent Lieutenant-Colonel Gaurab Gurung.

With 12 hours of daily preventive patrols in Bangui and 10 in other detachments, the military police are also ‘in charge of ensuring that military and civilians respect the mandate of the mission.

In addition to their conventional duties, they are actively fighting the problem of sexual exploitation and abuse,’ said Lieutenant Colonel Gurung.

“It was important to recognise the quality of the service and the professionalism with which they performed their tasks,” said Special Representative Onanga-Anyanga.

“Indeed, despite their small size, they are an indispensable unit of the Mission and ensure the control of the behaviour of our personnel. They also have the responsibility to ensure that the MINUSCA personnel drive the vehicles responsibly. As you know, road traffic accidents are the leading cause of death in peacekeeping missions. Since this responsibility has been given to them, they have contributed enormously to reducing the number of road accidents and to ensuring that our staff behave on the road in a responsible way both in urban and rural areas,” said the Head of MINUSCA.

Nepal has been an active participant in UN peacekeeping operations since 1958.

The Nepali Army has served in 42 UN missions. The country is the sixth largest contributor of military and police personnel to the UN with 4,834 soldiers, including 130 women, now serving worldwide.