WAU - Take a bow, Bangladesh, because 150 of your finest sons (120) and daughters (30), serving for peace and with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in the states of Warrap and Western Bahr El Ghazal have recently been awarded #UN medals for their outstanding work.

During a fine ceremony in Wau, attended by the UNMISS Force Commander himself, shiny pieces of metal were pinned to the proud-swollen chests of these Blue Helmets in recognition of a year marked by professionalism and filled with a variety of significant activities and initiatives.

When Chinese engineering colleagues rehabilitated the vital road between Wau and Raja, the Bangladeshi contingent established a temporary operating base in Deim Zubeir to offer them, civilians and UNMISS assets protection and a feasible working environment.

When intercommunal violence rocked Kuejena, the Bangladeshi peacekeepers were again on their feet, constructing and making good use of another temporary operating base.

When schoolchildren in their area of responsibility didn’t have much-needed educational material, when bovine beauties suffered from an assortment of ailments, and when hospital directors decried a lack of life-saving medicine - that is when our uniformed women and men stepped in, handing over essential items or treating precious cattle to qualified veterinary care.

And according to the contingent’s commander, Colonel Mohammed Shafquat, that is what these dedicated peacekeepers will keep doing.

“We will continue, relentlessly, to perform our duties until the day we leave South Sudan,” he said.

No encouragement to do so was needed, yet it was delivered in abundance.

‘’The massive help you have given to our people has, in one way or another, made a real difference in their lives. We could not possibly have wished for more or better,’’ said Rodolfo Adrian Ujika, a representative from the Western Bahr El Ghazal State government who witnessed the glorious spectacle.