A training course was held in Hanoi on March 29 to equipped officers who are going to join UN peacekeeping missions in 2017 with skills to handle bombs, mines and explosive materials.

The course was jointly organised by the Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre and the US Golden West Humanitarian Foundation (GWHF).

Addressing the opening ceremony, a leader of the centre said since Vietnam officially joined the UN peacekeeping activities in 2014, it has sent 12 officers to UN peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and Central African Republic.

Vietnam is actively preparing for the deployment of a second-level field hospital and a company of sappers, and focusing on training female and male soldiers to serve the UN peacekeeping missions in the coming time.

The centre leader valued the support the Golden West has provided for the centre in pre-deployment training over the past time.

For his part, Golden West Country Director in Vietnam Lee Moroney said the training course aims to improve Vietnamese officers’ skills to avoid bombs, mines and explosive materials to ensure their safety while performing their tasks in UN peacekeeping missions, especially in South Sudan.