The event was chaired by Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Defense Minister, Head of the Inter-sectorial Working Group and Head of the Vietnamese Defense Ministry’s Steering Committee on Vietnam's Participation in U.N. Peacekeeping Operations.
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Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien speaks at the event. |
In the 2021-2022 term, 12 Vietnamese officers will undertake different duties as military observers, operation staff officers, intelligence staff officers, supply staff officers, training staff officers and communications officers.
More especially, from this term, Vietnam is entrusted with additional two posts as intelligence and communications officers at the MINUSCA by the U.N., of which the post of communications officer is specifically reserved for women, meeting gender equality policy and increasing the number of female soldiers participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Speaking at the event, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien asked the to-be-deployed officers to thoroughly embrace and strictly observe Vietnam’s foreign policies, military discipline, the U.N.’s regulations and the host countries’ law. He urged the officers to effectively fulfill their duties, contributing to affirming Vietnamese officers’ competence and accelerating the professional and effective participation of the Vietnam People’s Army in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
The deputy defense minister asked the officers to bring into play achievements obtained over the past time, the tradition of the Vietnam People’s Army and virtues of Uncle Ho’s soldiers to fulfill all future missions. Together with participating in humanitarian relief activities to popularize the tradition of the Vietnam People’s Army among international colleagues and people, he urged the Vietnamese peacekeepers to ensure absolute safety of personnel and equipment while conducting missions in foreign countries.
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The officers receive the President's decisions. |
According to Major General Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, all the officers have gone through different professional training courses on peacekeeping operations, including a three-month pre-deployment training course, to be well-prepared for the tasks. The to-be-deployed peacekeepers have also been equipped with methods to protect them from COVID-19 as well as provided with treatment protocol for infected cases.
At the event, on behalf of the officers, Head of the Working Mission at UNMISS Lieutenant Colonel Pham Tan Phong expressed his honor to join the U.N. humanitarian activities and contribute to peace and stability in countries with conflicts. He affirmed that all the officers are now ready to head to UNMISS and MINUSCA and confident to fulfill missions assigned by Vietnamese defense leaders and the U.N.
The Ministry of National Defense has sent 246 officers to work at the U.N. Headquarter, UNMISS and MINUSCA, of whom 189 are members of level-2 field hospitals. At present, the Vietnamese Defense Ministry is actively preparing for the deployment of the first Engineering Company with 184 members to the U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). So far, Vietnam has dispatched 41 female soldiers to U.N. peacekeeping missions, accounting for nearly 16 percent of the total Vietnamese peacekeeping personnel, much higher than the average rates of other countries.
Translated by Tran Hoai