UN staff officer refresher course opens in Vietnam

PANO – The Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on April 14, held a ceremony to open a refresher course for UN staff officers via both online and in-person platforms.

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The course was supported by the U.S.’s Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI).

Major General Hoang Kim Phung (left) talking with foreign instructor

Attending the event in Hanoi were representatives from units of the Vietnam Ministry of National Defense, the U.S. defense attachés office and the U.S.’s Defense Cooperation Office in Hanoi, as well as professors from the EU.

Representatives from the GPOI and its experts attended the event online.

Speaking at the event, Major General Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said that the course attracted the participation of trainees from 11 units of the Ministry of National Defense. All of them have good professional background and English skills. This is the first time it has been held via both platforms due to the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The course attracted the participation of trainees from 11 units of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense.

For the GPOI’s part, Julian Bower, Head of the lecturer delegation from the GPOI, praised Vietnam’s efforts to be the first country to conduct the UN staff officers refresher course via both platforms.

Also, he added that the course helps enhance Vietnam’s capacity in organizing more international refresher courses for UN peacekeeping forces.

During the course (April 12-29), trainees will study basic contents of the UN and its peacekeeping operations.

Particularly, the course will equip participants with general knowledge about staff work, command and control, civilian protection, humanitarian assistance, public relations, disarmament and community reintegration, intelligence collection and analysis, civil-military coordination, and more while providing them with opportunities to practice these skills.

Vietnamese officers instructed by an experienced foreign instructor

In addition to EU experienced professors, there are groups of Vietnamese instructors who once worked at UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Concluding the event, Lieutenant Colonel Truong Anh Tuan, Deputy Head of the Training Center under the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, underlined that the coordination in opening the course between Vietnam and the GPOI showed Vietnam’s determination and its personnel's preparations to take part in UN peacekeeping operations, contributing to making Vietnam one of the qualified UN peacekeeping training facilities in the region.