At the meeting, Major General Hoang Kim Phung, the VNDPKO’s Director, briefed the defense leader on the department’s organization and operations. Phung emphasized that Vietnam’s active participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations has raised the country’s position in the international arena and affirmed the high responsibility of Vietnam as a U.N. member.
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Sr. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien speaks at the meeting. |
According to Gen. Phung, the U.N. has applauded Vietnamese peacekeepers at U.N. missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic for their effective application of soft skills in task performance and promotion of people-to-people exchanges. These have helped beautify the images of Vietnam, its people, and military.
Gen. Phung highlighted that its international standards-met training center for U.N. peacekeeping forces is among the outstanding centers in Southeast Asia.
To achieve the target that Vietnamese peacekeepers will be key forces in U.N. missions, Gen. Phung proposed that the Ministry of National Defense and functional agencies pay due attention to the organization of peacekeeping forces, and allow the enlistment of troops from other military units.
In his speech, General Chien acknowledged difficulties facing Vietnamese peacekeepers at U.N. missions. He asked the defense ministry’s functional bodies to implement policies for these peacekeepers, especially women, and their families. He also requested that more attention should be paid to improving the spiritual and material life of the peacekeeping forces.
Gen. Chien urged the department and relevant forces to make thorough preparations for the deployment of the Level-2 Field Hospital (L2FH) Rotation 3 replacing the L2FH Rotation 2, and actively carry out routine and unscheduled missions in line with the master plan “The Vietnam People’s Army’s participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations.”
Regarding the U.N.’s proposal of building a COVID-19 testing center at the U.N. Mission in South Sudan, Gen. Chien asked the VNDPKO to work closely with the Department of Military Medicine to implement this.
The department was also asked to expand international cooperation in U.N. peacekeeping operations and improve its peacekeepers’ professional expertise and command of foreign languages.
The VNDPKO should develop itself into a national coordination center on Vietnam’s participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations, the Deputy Defense Minister said.
Translated by Mai Huong