Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix at an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondent in New York on December 26 (Photo: VNA) In an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in New York, Lacroix hailed Vietnam’s provision of level-2 field hospitals to South Sudan, stressing that this is the kind of capacity that the UN needs its member countries to contribute, as in the more dangerous environment that peacekeepers are working, better protection and medical support is required.
Vietnamese officers joining the level-2 field hospital No.1 in South Sudan (Photo: VNA) The UN Under-Secretary-General said that UN is working to with Vietnam to deploy an engineering company to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). He added that this is an area of critical importance, stressing the significance of good engineering to peacekeeping operations.
“I believe that Vietnam understands well what the priorities of peacekeeping are, and will do its best to respond to these priorities. That is why we really appreciate what Vietnam has been doing with us since started to contributing to peacekeeping operations in 2014”.
Lacroix said that the UN expects to work more with Vietnam as the UN can see the country’s capacity through the deployment of level-2 field hospitals and the upcoming engineering unit.
He hailed Vietnam’s efforts to improve the proportion of women peacekeepers (15 percent currently), adding that he believes that with the participation of more women, peacekeeping operations will be more effective.
The UN needs more specific capacity to better protect peacekeepers, particularly against attacks, along with officers who can collect and analyse information, react quickly and move more quickly to effectively support civilians in conflicts. These are areas of critical need to international peacekeeping operations, which are also potential areas that the UN can work with Vietnam.
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (third, right), Minister of National Defence General Phan Van Giang (third, left), head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education Nguyen Trong Nghia (second, right) and Vietnamese peacekeepers who completed their tasks (Photo: VNA) Looking back on UN operations in 2021, Lacroix said that he believes that the UN peacekeeping operations have been implemented successfully throughout in a difficult year of 2021 amid COVID-19, with peacekeepers ensuring the strict implementation of ceasefires and delivering humanitarian support and protecting hundreds of thousands of civilians in countries they are deployed.
Regarding major challenges facing peacekeeping operations currently, he pointed to a lack of unity among the international community to actively support political efforts and the seeking of political solutions. He also mentioned the challenge from the worsening conflicts as well as security and political situation and the more dangerous environment in areas where UN peacekeeping missions are working.
In the recent minister-level meeting on peacekeeping, the majority of countries supported peacekeeping operations, and some countries proved their capacity to make more contributions to the operations, including Vietnam, he noted.
Lacroix held that next year, one of the priorities of the UN is to continue the efforts that the UN has implemented with UN member states, including Vietnam, in order to improve the effectiveness, the impacts and the level of protection of peacekeeping operations. He said he believes that in this effort, the UN can count on the cooperation of Vietnam./.
VNA
