Engagement in UN peacekeeping missions – prominent point in Vietnam’s multilateral diplomacy

Officers and soldiers of Sapper Unit No. 1 (Photo: VNA) set off to participate in the UN peacekeeping operations (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Upholding Vietnam’s peace-loving tradition and implementing the Party and State’s policy, over the past years, the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) has sent officers and soldiers to participate in the United Nations (UN)’ peacekeeping missions, which has been supported by local people and appreciated by the UN and the international community.

The spirit of dedication and responsibility of Vietnamese soldiers has helped spread the image of the country and people of Vietnam who love peace for a prosperous and progressive human community. President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has assessed the engagement in UN peacekeeping activities over the past 8 years as a bright spot in the multilateral diplomacy of the country’s Party, State and army.

The establishment of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre and the send-off for the first two VPA officers to work as liaison officers at the UN Mission in South Sudan on May 27, 2014, marked the nation's official participation in UN peacekeeping operations.

On November 13, 2020, the National Assembly passed Resolution No. 130/2020/QH14 on joining the UN peacekeeping force, which clearly stipulates principles, forms, fields and forces, competence, force deployment process, guaranteed funding, regimes, policies and state management for the engagement in the UN peacekeeping force.

To date, Vietnam has sent 76 individuals, including eight women, to work as liaison officers, staff officers, military observers, and intelligence analysis officers at the UN headquarters and its two missions in South Sudan (UNMISS), and the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

A Vietnamese peacekeeper (centre) (Photo: VNA)

Since 2020, the country has had four officers recruited to work at the Department of Peace Operations at the UN headquarters in New York and MINUSCA.

In 2018, Vietnam officially sent Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 1 to conduct peacekeeping operations in Bentiu, South Sudan.

To date, it has sent over 250 officers and doctors of Level-2 Field Hospitals Rotations 1, 2, 3 and 4 to South Sudan.

Especially, after years of careful preparations, on November 17, 2021, Vietnam officially made debut Sapper Unit No. 1. This is the first time Vietnam has sent a sapper team to participate in the UN peacekeeping operations and also the deployment of the largest number ever, with 184 soldiers, including 21 women.

Vietnamese peacekeepers of Level 2 Field Hospital No. 3 in South Sudan delivered medical care to save a 50-year-old officer from a stroke on April 11 (Photo: VNA)

According to Major General Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department, participating in UN peacekeeping activities is a major policy of the Politburo and Party Central Committee to help Vietnam integrate into the world at a high level.

In the coming time, Vietnam’s policy is to focus on developing external affairs and defence cooperation in the UN peacekeeping, attracting foreign resources to improving the capacity of the Vietnamese army in preparing and deploying other forces to get engaged in UN peacekeeping missions./.

VNA