UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and officers from the Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations during his visit on Saturday. — Photo from People's Army newspaper

HÀ NỘI — UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix on Saturday visited the Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations (VDPO) under the Ministry of Defence as part of his visit to co-chair the International Conference on Women with the UN Peacekeeping Operations.

Meeting with the guest, Director of the department Maj. Gen. Hoàng Kim Phụng stated that Việt Nam always appreciates the UN’s efforts and support in promoting bilateral relations with Việt Nam, especially with the VDPO in joining UN peacekeeping activities.

According to the Vietnamese officer, since officially participating in UN peacekeeping activities in 2014, Việt Nam has sent more than 500 officers and soldiers of the Việt Nam People's Army (VPA) on missions.

Regarding group deployment, since Việt Nam signed the first agreement with the UN on sending Level-2 Field Hospitals to South Sudan in September 2018, the country has so far dispatched four hospitals of this kind with 252 medical staff to South Sudan, Phụng said.

In 2022, Việt Nam and the UN signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UN on the deployment of engineering units. The country sent its first engineering unit comprising 184 officers and soldiers to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

All the officers and soldiers of the VPA participating in UN peacekeeping activities have well fulfilled their tasks, with more than 30 per cent assessed to show excellent performance, Phụng noted.

Notably, Việt Nam has always maintained a high percentage of female officers on missions, he added. Among 512 Vietnamese officers and soldiers sent to the UN peacekeeping missions, more than 70 are women.

Lacroix expressed his impression of the success that Việt Nam has achieved in the UN peacekeeping work in the past, and pledged to promote his role as a bridge to further strengthen the UN-Việt Nam cooperation, especially in UN peacekeeping.

The official highly valued the VDPO for chairing and coordinating with international partners to successfully organise international training courses on peacekeeping, towards the goal of becoming a regional-class peacekeeping training centre.

While spotlighting Việt Nam's great contributions to the implementation of women, peace and security (WPS) agenda, Lacroix said Việt Nam has worked hard to realise commitments adopted at the Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Meeting in the Republic of Korea last year.

He expressed his belief that the peacekeeping cooperation between the UN and Việt Nam will become closer and more effective in the coming time. — VNS