UN Under-Secretary-General visits Vietnam's engineering unit in Abyei

Hanoi (VNA) – UN Under-Secretary-General Atul Khare visited Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1 at the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) on March 6, during which he thanked the Vietnamese peacekeeping forces in Abyei for their positive and effective contributions to UN peacekeeping operations, bringing a better life to local communities.

According to Colonel Mac Duc Trong, head of the unit, the unit has so far repaired and upgraded 46km of roads, and ensured traffic on a 50-km route in the Northern Sub-division, contributing to the circulation of goods, stabilising the life and socio-economic conditions of local residents in the Northern Sub-division and the whole Abyei area. The unit has also opened four new patrol routes through the forests with a total length of 46km.

In addition, the Vietnamese engineering team has also rescued more than 100 vehicles of the UN and local residents that were stuck due to bad road conditions.

The unit has provided regular maintenance and repair services to the mission's field airport, ensuring its smooth operations. It has also actively coordinated with agencies and units to carry out 50 operations to reinforce and build barracks for agencies and units under the mission, said Trong.

He affirmed that the team will continue to show their best performance and strictly abide by the principles and regulations of the UN and the UNISFA, overcoming all difficulties and staying ready for all tasks.

He thanked UN agencies and the UNISFA for supporting the unit in fulfilling its duties as scheduled with utmost safety.

UN Under-Secretary-General Atul Khare highlighted the cooperation outcomes between the UN and Vietnam across all fields, especially peacekeeping, and expressed his hope to visit Vietnam to discuss with the country's Government and military leaders on issues of shared concern as well as the promotion of bilateral partnership, especially in peacekeeping.

He said that in his prior working session with the Abyei administration, all local leaders appreciated the help and support from the Vietnamese engineering unit to the local community through social welfare as well as humanitarian and charity activities. Vietnam’s assistance has met urgent needs of local residents, especially in drainage system upgrade, school building, well drilling and library establishment.

Particularly, the unit also called for Vietnamese donors’ support to provide Abyei with several computer sets, enabling local students to access information technology and schools to show better performance in management and teaching activities, he said.

The principal of Abyei High School said that with the support of the Vietnamese engineering team, the school has facilities comparable to a university in the South Sudanese capital Juba.

UN Under-Secretary-General Atul Khare asked Vietnam’s engineering unit to pay greater attention to repairing bases of the mission, while asking the UNISFA to provide necessary material for the team for barrack upgrading, with priority to the construction of a “smart barrack” in Highway base./.