Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoàng Xuân Chiến hands over the State President's decision on Vietnamese military peacekeepers. VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

HÀ NỘI - In a ceremony held on Tuesday by the Ministry of National Defence, seven additional military officers were officially dispatched on United Nations peacekeeping missions.

Among those officers, two will be sent to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), four to the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), and one will serve at the UN mission in Central Africa, replacing their predecessors who have completed their term.

At the ceremony, four officials who successfully completed their tasks on UN peacekeeping missions were welcomed home. 

“Today, seven officers received the State President’s Decision and the Decision of the Ministry of Defence to go on duty at the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Abyei Area,” said Major General Hoàng Kim Phụng.

“To prepare the force to replace comrades in performing their duties, the Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the Ministry of Defence selected officers with strong military capabilities, qualifications, and UN peacekeeping knowledge, foreign language proficiency, and good health assurance,” Phụng said.

“The Việt Nam Peacekeeping Department organised courses and pre-deployment training for the seven officers and sent the officers to participate in different training courses overseas to raise the level of expertise in each officer's field at the missions," the Major General said.

The Major General, who is also head of the Việt Nam Peacekeeping Department, said that Việt Nam had sent 526 officials and staff, including 522 military officers and four police officers, to participate in UN peacekeeping activities on three UN missions and headquarters.

According to the evaluation of UN missions and agencies, Vietnamese officers have made great efforts in performing their assigned tasks, demonstrating professionalism and high discipline and providing a lot of creativity that left many excellent impressions on mission leaders, military force commanders and international colleagues with specific, practical and highly humane contributions.

Addressing the event, member of the Central Military Commission and Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoàng Xuân Chiến said that the UN peacekeeping force had contributed to the creation of a strong imprint of both Việt Nam and the Việt Nam People's Army in the international arena. 

Việt Nam People's Army officers had helped enhance the image of Uncle Hồ's army in the eyes of international friends, he underlined.

He asked units under the Ministry of National Defence to continue focussing on training activities to help the Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations diversify human resources and serve the development of the Vietnamese UN peacekeeping force.

He also sympathised with the difficulties and hardships of officers participating in UN peacekeeping operations, especially female soldiers, who must work in difficult conditions and harsh weather with many potential risks.

He praised their spirit in overcoming difficulties and their determination to complete the tasks of units and individual officers, including the four officers who have just finished their working term at the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic.

On behalf of the newly assigned peacekeepers, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyễn Kim Tỉnh said that they would complete the tasks assigned by the UN and the Ministry of National Defense, ensuring absolute safety in all aspects. VNS