New York (VNA) – Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh hadmeeting with UN Deputy Secretary General and Head of the Department of PeacekeepingOperation (DPKO) Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Director of the UN Mine Action Service(UNMAS) Agnes Marcaillou in New York, on October 13.
Cooperation measures to support Vietnam in enhancing the country’s involvementin the UN’s peacekeeping activities were on the table at the event. Both sidesagreed to conduct official negotiations soon in order to ink a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) on the deployment of the second-level field hospital inSouth Sudan.
The DPKO agreed to create conditions for relevant Vietnamese agencies in legalprocedures and final preparations for the second-level field hospital.
It also pledged to help Vietnam deploy a military engineering unit to asuitable mission, possibly in South Sudan. The DPKO will soon ink a cooperationdocument with Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre to bolster coordination and enhanceVietnam’s capacity in peacekeeping activities in the coming time.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is willing to welcome an inspection group from the UN,scheduled for December, to evaluate the second-level field hospital.
As part of activities in New York, Deputy Minister Vinh met with Haoling Xu,Assistant Secretary-General and Director for the Regional Bureau for Asia andthe Pacific at the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Xu lauded Vietnam’s efforts and commitments in peace keeping operations, mineclearance and the settlement of post-war matters.
UNDP pledged to support the Vietnamese Government in building capacity to join theUN peacekeeping force, and giving consultations on long-term strategies to helpdevelop the Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre into a regional and internationalpeacekeeping training centre, he stressed.
The UN official said that UNDP will work to improve the country’s capacity intackling leftover bombs and mines and toxic chemicals and handling challengesrelated to sustainable socio-economic development to enhance life quality ofpeople in affected areas.-VNA
