A Nepalese Reserve Force battalion serving with the United Nations mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is the 2024 UN Medal of Honour for Exceptional Service recipient.
Recognising the battalion’s contribution to peace in the conflict-wracked country, UNMISS correspondent Francesca Mold reports it is relied on to respond to the “most volatile security situations” in the world’s youngest country.
“The Nepalese peacekeepers are rapidly deployed to the most dangerous locations to protect civilians, deter violence, ensure peacekeeping engineers can safely build and repair key infrastructure and that humanitarian aid reaches the most vulnerable.”
On Friday 8 November the battalion’s 850 personnel were presented with the UN Medal of Honour for Exceptional Service in recognition of their service to the people of South Sudan, as well as the Force Commander’s Commendation for exceptional professionalism and dedication to duty.
“You are not just a last resort, you are the ones that we bank on to handle situations which sometimes, due to various factors, go beyond the capability of respective sectors to handle. In this regard, you have distinguished yourselves,” UNMISS Force Commander, Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian, said at the medal presentation ceremony.
He highlighted one operation where Nepalese peacekeepers were attacked by an armed group while protecting a humanitarian convoy travelling on insecure roads in Jonglei to deliver much-needed aid to people in need.
“While under attack, while responding to the attack with fire, immediately on sighting a possible child solider in the attacking ranks, the Nepalese Force Reserve Battalion members stopped firing. That shows that you are committed to the highest tenets of UN peacekeeping – that a soldier cannot fire at a child even if the child has taken up weapons against us,”
Nepal is the world’s largest contributor of troops and police to UN peacekeeping, with the personnel currently in South Sudan following in the footsteps of over 151 000 Nepalese men and women who have served in missions since 1958.
