Ten more Vietnamese officers to be deployed to UN peacekeeping operations

At the ceremony to hand over the President’s decision to 10 officers

Under the decision, Lieutenant Colonel Luong Truong Vinh will serve as staff and planning officer at the Force Generation Service of the UN Department of Peace Operation (DPO) in New York. Vinh is the first-ever Vietnamese officer of the Vietnam People’s Army being admitted to a position in the DPO. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Duy Quang will be the first Vietnamese officer to work as a coordination officer of military activities between the MINUSCA and the Central African Government. The remaining peacekeepers, including a female officer, will work at the MINUSCA and UNMISS.

Addressing the ceremony, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Defense Minister and Head of the Defense Ministry’s steering committee for Vietnam’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations, praised the ten officers for undertaking their assignments in peacekeeping operations in the context of the complicated development of COVID-19. Vinh asked the troops to strictly observe military disciplines of the Vietnam People’s Army, the UN’s regulations, and the host countries’ laws, strictly exercise the COVID-19 prevention and control measures, and continue learning experience from their international peers. The ten officers were urged to recommend the Party, State, and Army on how to effectively deploy peacekeepers and prepare documents for UN’s assessment of Vietnamese personnel to undertake UN peacekeeping operations while serving as ambassadors to popularize Vietnam and the Vietnam People’s Army to international friends.

General Vinh affirmed that the Ministry of National Defense will support and create favorable conditions for the ten officers to fulfil their missions.

At the event, after updating the ten peacekeepers on methods to prevent COVID-19, Major General Nguyen Xuan Kien, Director of the Military Medical Department, asked them to strictly observe pandemic prevention and control regulations. According to him, to ensure good health for troops amid COVID-19, the department provided medical supplies and medicines for all Vietnamese peacekeepers.

Senior Lieutenant General handing over the President's decision to Lieutenant Colonel Luong Truong Vinh

On behalf of the dispatched officers, Lieutenant Colonel Luu Dinh Hien, Commander of the Vietnamese force at the MINUSCA, affirmed their determination to fulfill the missions assigned by the Defense Ministry and the UN. He emphasized that joining the UN peacekeeping operation is a good opportunity for the officers to raise their competence and enrich their practical experience, so as to undertake and fulfil all missions in the future.

Translated by Tran Hoai