Vietnamese readied to join UN peacekeeping missions

	Three more Vietnamese officers to join UN peacekeeping missions in Africa
	Joining UN peacekeeping missions affirms VN’s contributions to world peace
	Female medical officers stand ready to join UN peacekeeping missions

Vietnamese army medical personnel leaves HCMC for South Sudan, October 2018. Photo by VnExpress

According to Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich, since 2014, Vietnam has sent 172 officers and staff from the Ministry of Defence to UN peacekeeping missions in Central Africa Republic and South Sudan as well as the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the UN headquarters.

As part of efforts to send police officers to join UN peacekeeping forces, the government has asked the Ministry of Public Security to train police officers to the required standards, Lich said during a National Assembly discussion on a draft resolution regarding Vietnam’s engagement in UN peacekeeping operations.

In order to join UN peacekeeping operations, besides foreign language skills, the officers must have knowledge of foreign and defense policies and be able to meet the requirements of a multinational working environment.

The public security ministry has already dispatched 10 police officers to attend UN courses on training of senior officers, management and plan-making skills, foreign language skills, and professional training. The officers have been to UN peacekeeping operations in Australia, China, Malaysia, Spain and Switzerland, vnexpress reported.

Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich addresses the session (Photo: VNA)

Currently, the Government is directing the ministry to prepare to sent about 320 sappers under the Vietnam People’s Army to UN peacekeeping operations.

All officers sent to the missions have completed their tasks, Lich said.

In terms of finance, Vietnam has received over 4.8 million USD from the UN and more than 20 million USD from international community for the work, which has helped reduce the State budget spending for the activities, he noted.

Meanwhile, as part of the efforts to implement a project to send police officers to UN peacekeeping missions in the 2014-2020 period, the Government is directing the Public Security Ministry to train officers and work with the UN agencies on the work, according to the public security news.

First Vietnamese police officers are scheduled to be sent to UN peacekeeping missions from 2021, said the minister.

Minister Lich noted that the engagement in UN peacekeeping operations is a new task which has not been institutionalised, leading to obstacles during the implementation of the work.

He underlined the significance to build and issue a NA resolution on UN peacekeeping operation engagement to review, supplement and issue new legal documents in the field to match international conventions and agreements to which Vietnam is a signatory.

Three officers assigned to join the UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic on Oct 22.

Joining UN peacekeeping forces has promoted defense cooperation between Vietnam and other countries. Vietnam has signed nine memoranda of understanding on UN peacekeeping cooperationwith partner countries like Australia, China, France, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the U.S.

The forces' activities have contributed to improving the position and prestige of Vietnam in the region and in the international arena and this was a factor in the nation’s successful bid for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, Lich said.

Currently, the government has asked the ministry to prepare to send about 320 sappers of the Vietnam People’s Army to join UN peacekeeping forces.

In October 2018, for the first time, Vietnam sent a team of military doctors to work at the U.N. field hospital in South Sudan. The second such team left for South Sudan last October.

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