The department with increasingly-elite force, capable of working in international environment has made active contribution to the U.N.’s peacekeeping mission. Its peacekeeping units and individual officers have always well performed their tasks, affirmed responsibility, and raised the position and prestige of the country, and the military, spreading the image of a friendly, humane and peace-loving country and people of Vietnam.
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Senior Colonel Pham Manh Thang, VNDPKO Director, receives the merit certificate and logo in honor of the VNDPKO at the Vietnam Glory program 2024. |
Units and officers of the Vietnam People’s Army deployed to U.N. missions have excellently fulfilled assignments by U.N. missions and the U.N. Many individual officers have outstandingly completed their time in U.N. duties and been honored by the U.N. with certificates of merit and letters of congratulations. Attentively, the number of Vietnamese peacekeepers with excellent achievements is high. According to assessments by the leaderships of U.N. missions and U.N. agencies, Vietnamese peacekeeping force has exerted great efforts, shown professionalism, creativity, and high discipline in task performance, leaving deep impressions on U.N. missions’ commanders and international friends and colleagues.
Apart from their professional tasks, Vietnamese peacekeeping force has launched many practical programs and activities to help local people. The Vietnamese Engineering Company at the United Nations Interim Security Force in Abyei (UNISFA) always promotes the spirit of “helping locals with their highest capability,” while the level-two field hospital in South Sudan enhances the spirit of “the doctor is like a gentle mother.”
Vietnamese officers in UNISFA have changed Abyei positively, helping raise the prestige of peacekeepers of the U.N. in general and of Vietnam in particular. Vietnamese engineers have braced harsh weather conditions, overcome shortage of equipment and materials to give assistance to locals to prevent flooding, build roads, do farming, upgrade classrooms, teach students, dig wells for local residential areas and schools, and provide free health check-ups, health consultation and medicines to locals.
According to VNDPKO Director Senior Colonel Pham Manh Thang, people in Abyei are always grateful to the Vietnam People’s Army for deploying the engineering company to perform peacekeeping mission in this disadvantaged and conflict-affected area. Local authorities and people wish Vietnamese engineers to stay on to help ease their difficulties life. For their good task performance and good deeds, the Vietnamese engineering company has been recognized by the UNISFA, local authorities, and people as the first U.N. unit with due care, responsibility and close relations with people in Abyei.
Writing in the golden book of the Vietnamese Engineering Company, Major General Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr, Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander of UNISFA, highly praised the Vietnamese unit for its approach to local community. He expressed his belief in the unit’s good task performance and asked it to bring into play the accomplishments to keep Vietnam and U.N.’s flags ever-flying.
Meanwhile, with high medical expertise, Vietnamese blue beret doctors have received high appreciation from the U.N. and become reliable fulcrum for international colleagues and locals. Vietnamese level-two field hospitals have left deep impressions of whole-heartedness for patients, readiness to support local hospitals and level-one hospital to take care of local people’s health. In addition, their military-civilian cooperation activities, such as desks and chairs presentation to local schools, tree-planting, provision of free health examination and medicines have spread the humane spirit of blue berets.
Performing international obligation and excellently fulfilling tasks, Vietnamese blue berets have been honored and they are proud to partly contribute to the increasingly glory of the home country, beautifying the national flag in impoverished, conflict-devastated areas where countries are joining hands to keep peace and bring better life to locals.
Translated by Mai Huong