Ministry training more officers for UN peacekeeping missions

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.

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, he said.

Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh (second, right), Deputy Defence Minister and head of the ministry’s steering committee for Vietnam’s participation in UN peacekeeping activities, hands over the decisions to the three officers. Photo: VNA

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.

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.

The draft resolution comprises six chapters and 17 articles.

At the session, deputies listened to a report verifying the draft resolution delivered by NA Committee for Defence-Security Vo Trong Viet, which shows that the committee basically agrees with the need to issue the resolution to institutionalise the resolutions of the Party and rules of the Constitution and demands of the reality in the field.

The committee also agreed on the consideration of the approval of the resolution at the 10th session of the NA.

The majority of the deputies also concurred to propose the NA to pass the draft resolution during the 10th session.

Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich also answered questions raised by deputies on the draft resolution at the session.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defence held a ceremony on October 22 to assign three officers to join the UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. 

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Defence Minister and head of the ministry’s steering committee for Vietnam’s participation in UN peacekeeping activities, handed over the decisions and assigned tasks to the officers.

Two Lieutenant Colonels will work as military observers in South Sudan, while Major Dao Duy Tung will be an information analysis advisory officer in the Central African Republic.

In its six years of involvement in UN peacekeeping operations, Vietnam has sent 53 military officers to South Sudan and the Central African Republic, including four women.

There have also been 126 Vietnamese officers and doctors joining Field Hospitals No 1 and 2 in South Sudan, including 20 women.

Pham Thu