Vietnamese peacekeepers highly valued by int’l community: official

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese forces carrying out peacekeeping duties have won support from the Party, State and people, as well as high evaluation from the United Nations and the international community, a military official has said.

Addressing a Ministry of National Defence conference on August 25 to review Vietnam's participation in UN peacekeeping operations, Maj. Gen. Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, reported that from June 2014 to August 2022, the army has deployed 512 officers and soldiers to UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Abyei Area, along with the UN headquarters.

They have shown their professionalism, discipline and international solidarity, and especially have been quick to adapt to harsh working conditions at the missions, he noted.

In terms of individual deployments, from two officers serving as liaison officers at the South Sudan mission in 2014, 76 have been sent to work independently in different positions so far.

Regarding group deployments, Vietnam has deployed four level-2 field hospitals to South Sudan, all of which have excellently fulfilled their tasks. It also sent the first engineering unit, which comprises 184 officers and soldiers and nearly 2,000 tonnes of equipment, to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei in May this year, according to Phung.

To implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, the country has sent 74 female officers to peacekeeping operations over the last eight years, he went on, adding the UN recognised the Vietnamese department as one of the four international training centres in the region to hold training under the Vietnam - UN - Japan trilateral partnership programme in June 2018.

The Defence Ministry has also coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to provide peacekeeping training for nearly 30 police officers, four of whom have been chosen, with one working at the UN headquarters and three at the South Sudan mission, the official said.

Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien said the ministry will coordinate  closely with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and others to build a national centre for participation in UN peacekeeping operations to improve the deployment of army and public security forces.

He asked for enhanced, diversified, and more fruitful peacekeeping cooperation with international partners, especially those experienced in training, to attract external resources.

Vietnam also needs to play a proactive part in UN peacekeeping operations within the framework of regional and international mechanisms, Chien added.

At the conference, the Defence Minister’s decision to set up Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 5 under the Ho Chi Minh City-based Military Hospital 175 to take part in UN peacekeeping operations was also announced./.