Vietnam ready to send more officers to UN peacekeeping missions

Hanoi (VNA) – Sen. Lt. Gen. Pham Ngoc Minh, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, stressed his country’s readiness for UN peacekeeping operations at talks with UK officers on January 20.

He had talks in Hanoi with a delegation of the army medical services led by Major General Martin Bricknell, Director of the Medical Policy & Operational Capability at the UK Ministry of Defence.

He highly valued the UK military medical force’s capacity and experience in combat, humanitarian aid and UN peacekeeping, especially the commanding and operation of level-2 field hospitals.

Vietnam is carrying out a plan for 2014-2020 on deploying field hospitals for the UN’s peacekeeping operations. 

It has sent 12 officers to serve as staff officers, liaison officers and military observers at the UN missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Their performance has been highly regarded by the UN, the mission commanders and international counterparts, Minh noted.

He added his country has completed personnel preparations, pre-deployment training, and foreign language training. It is ready to have its preparedness examined by the UN’s working group before officers are sent to UN missions.

He also asked the UK’s army medical services to enhance cooperation with the Vietnam People’s Army.

At the talks, Bricknell said his delegation had a working session the Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre, and they agreed on some major cooperation activities in the time ahead.

He shared some of the UK’s experiences in deploying level-2 field hospitals in peacekeeping operations, including personnel and equipment preparations, pre-deployment training and negotiation with the UN.

Speaking highly of Vietnam’s readiness, he expressed his belief that with its experience and officers’ adaptability and discipline, the country’s level-2 field hospitals will fulfill tasks at UN peacekeeping missions.

The UK delegation is set to visit and shared peacekeeping-related experience with staff of Military Hospital 354 in Hanoi later on January 20.-VNA