Senior Colonel Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations (VNDPKO), made the statement when answering queries of the press on June 15 on the sidelines of the freshly-ended eighth meeting of the ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network (APCN) hosted by Vietnam.
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Senior Colonel Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations (VNDPKO) |
Colonel Thang said that since June 2014, Vietnam has sent 533 officers and non-commissioned officers to U.N. missions in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Abyei, and U.N. headquarters. The good duty performance of the Vietnamese peacekeepers has been highly acknowledged and backed by the Party and State of Vietnam, and highly praised by the U.N. and the international community.
Vietnam’s remarkable attainments over the past nine years have confirmed that the country is an active and responsible member of the international community and helped spread the image of a peace-loving country ready to contribute to U.N.’s peacekeeping, security and development tasks, he said, adding the fact that Vietnam became a non-permanent member of the U.N. Security Council in the 2020-2021 period with recorded 192/193 votes.
According to the VNDPKO director, the country’s level-2 field hospitals (L2FH) in UNMISS have excellently completed their duties, receiving high applause from the mission’s commanders. Vietnamese medical staff have continuously affirmed their expertise, high sense of responsibility, and position as a reliable support for U.N. staff and local people in terms of healthcare. The U.N. Deputy Secretary-General and Military Advisor to U.N. Secretary-General sent thank-you letters to the Vietnamese Government for the contribution.
Apart from L2FHs and individual officers, in May 2022 Vietnam sent its first 184-strong engineering company and nearly 2,000 tons of equipment to the U.N. Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). After one year, the Vietnamese engineers have helped change the appearance of UNISFA, according to the assessment of the UNISFA’s force commander.
Commendations from the U.N. have also been given to many other Vietnamese officers for their excellent fulfillment of their working terms. And Vietnamese peacekeeping units have been honored with certificates of merit presented by the Vietnamese State President, Prime Minister, Ministry of National Defense, among others.
The sending of military medical staff and engineers to U.N. missions, as Colonel Thang said, is significant for Vietnam as the country is intensively integrating into the world according to the Party and State’s guideline and policies.
He said that Vietnam’s participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations has helped strengthen the country’s cooperative ties with other countries, raise the status of the Vietnam People’s Army, and create a favorable international environment for building and defending the Fatherland in the new situation.
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The Level-2 Field Hospital Rotation 3 departs for South Sudan. |
Regarding the two recent conferences on peacekeeping hosted by the Ministry of National Defense, Colonel Thang informed that they reviewed the implementation of the Government’s Decree No.162 issued on December 14, 2016 stipulating several policies for individuals and guarantee work for Vietnamese organizations participating in U.N. peacekeeping operations and the first-ever meeting of the Steering Board on making proposals to build a Law on Participation in U.N. Peacekeeping Operations with Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien as the head.
At the first meeting, delegates analyzed and clarified the advantages of the decree and affirmed that this is an important legal basis for ensuring policies for Vietnamese peacekeeping force. They also discussed a number of difficulties, obstacles and inadequacies during the realization of the decree, especially after the National Assembly adopted Resolution No.130 in 2020 on Vietnam’s participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations. They consented to make suggestions to the Prime Minister to amend, supplement or replace Decree No.162 to make it suitable to the current legal document system and to meet the requirements of missions in the new situation.
At the second meeting, the delegates opined the building of a law on Vietnam’s participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Colonel Thang affirmed that Vietnam’s participation in peacekeeping operations has been implemented comprehensively and effectively, reaping important outcomes, having positive impacts of Vietnam’s responsibility towards the international community and the U.N. So far, the legal document system on the participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations is relatively complete and the N.A. Resolution No.130 is unified and synchronized with the Constitution 2013, the Law on National Defense 2018 and the Law on People’s Public Security 2018. Therefore, the building of the Law on Vietnam’s participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations demonstrates that Vietnam is a responsible member of the U.N. and works as a basis to create resources, build forces, improve capacity, organize training, and make thorough preparations for forces undertaking peacekeeping duties according to the U.N.’s contents and regulations.
Translated by Mai Huong