Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’scontinuous deployment and increase of personnel to UN peacekeeping operationshave recorded encouraging results, leaving good impression on UN leaders,commanders of missions, and leaders of host countries.

The resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and Resolution No 22-NQ/TW of the Politburo identifiedthe task of actively taking part in multilateral defence and securitymechanisms, including engaging in cooperation activities at a higher level suchas UN peacekeeping operations.

Since June 2014, the Vietnam People’sArmy has sent 516 officers and professional soldiers to UN peacekeeping operationsin South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Abyei Area, and the UNheadquarters. 

The forces of Vietnam have been  well fulfilling their duties, winning the recognition and support from the Party, State,and people, as well as high evaluation from the UN and international community.That also helped Vietnam obtain 192 out of the 193 votes to become anon-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

The deployed personnel have showntheir professionalism, discipline, the spirit of international solidarity and,especially the capability of quickly adapting to harsh working conditions atthe missions.

In 2020, four officers of the VietnamDepartment of Peacekeeping Operations passed tests to be recruited by the UN,including three working for the UN Department of Peace Operations at the UNheadquarters and one for the mission in the Central African Republic.

As of August 2022, Vietnam had sentabout 80 officers working independently at the missions in South Sudan, theCentral African Republic, the Abyei Area, and the UN headquarters. Many of themhave finished their terms and been praised by the UN for their remarkableperformance, accounting for 30%, compared to other countries’ average of 2%.

Meanwhile, since October 2018, fourLevel-2 field hospitals have been deployed to South Sudan. All of them haveexcellently fulfilled tasks and highly valued by mission leaders. The fieldhospitals have affirmed their specialised capacity and sense of responsibility whileestablishing themselves as a trustworthy source of healthcare support for UN staffmembers in the host country, especially amid complex developments of the COVID-19pandemic.

The UN Under-Secretary-General forPeace Operations and the military advisor to the UN Secretary-General sentthank-you letters to the Vietnamese Government for those contributions.

In May 2022, the first engineering unit of Vietnam, which consists of 184officers and professional soldiers and nearly 2,000 tonnes of equipment,departed for the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). As soon as arriving in the area,the unit quickly embarked on their duties. The mission’s commander  recognised that their performancehad helped make an improvement to the UNISFA.

In particular, Vietnam has alwayspaid attention to raising the rate of servicewomen in UN peacekeepingoperations.

Implementing the UN Resolution 1325on women, peace and security, as of August 2022, the country had sent 74servicewomen to such operations, including eight working independently (accountingfor 20%, compared to the UN average of under 10%), and 45 working for fieldhospitals (accounting for 16 - 21%, compared to the UN average of 12%).  The engineering unit also includes 21servicewomen (nearly 12%) while similar units of other countries do not any.

Highly valuing the move, officials ofthe Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence were invited to join UN leaders inco-chairing an international conference on women with the UN peacekeepingoperations. This event took place in Vietnam on November 26, 2022 on theoccasion of a visit by UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-PierreLacroix./.