Doctors of Việt Nam’s level-2 field military hospital left for South Sudan last October to work with a UN peacekeeping mission. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Khu

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's nomination for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for the 2020-21 term offered a great opportunity for the country to contribute to global peace and security, including the UN’s work, a former high-ranking diplomat has said.

In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, former Deputy Foreign Minister Phạm Quang Vinh said the early nomination proved that Asia-Pacific countries highly valued the role of Việt Nam and believed the country could accomplish this role successfully thanks to its development, international position and global integration.

Over the past five years, Việt Nam had sent 29 delegations on two peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic to work as liaison officers, military observers and staff officers.

In October 2018, the country deployed the first level-two field hospital in South Sudan, and is preparing for the deployment of a sapper company soon.

In June 2018, the UN recognised the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations (VDPO) as one of four international training centres in the region and agreed to carry out training under a three-party partnership (Việt Nam, the UN and a partner country).

At a meeting of EU Defence Chiefs in August 2018, the EU invited Việt Nam to dispatch officers to work as mobile trainers at UN peacekeeping training centres in Central Africa, Somalia, Mali and some European countries. 

Maj. Gen. Hoàng Kim Phụng, VDPO director, said the deployment of the first level-two field hospital in South Sudan affirmed the country's role, responsibility and efforts in UN peacekeeping.

Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyễn Chí Vịnh, head of the steering committee for Việt Nam's UN peacekeeping operations, said the Việt Nam People’s Army was always ready and willing to help other countries in maintaining peace and in national reconstruction.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, in a letter sent to Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, head of Việt Nam's permanent mission to the UN, on November 26, 2018, extended his gratitude to the Vietnamese Government for its successful deployment of the first level-two field hospital in South Sudan.

Việt Nam also strongly supported the UN Security Council’s resolutions on the role of women in all phases of the peace process and in UN peacekeeping activities.

Speaking at a debate on women and UN peacekeeping activities held by the UN Security Council on April 11, Deputy Foreign Minister Lê Hoài Trung said Việt Nam would step up women’s participation in UN peacekeeping forces.

When assuming the role of the Chair of the Association of Asia-Pacific Peace Operations Training Centres (AAPTC) in 2020 from Thailand at a ceremony in Bangkok on April 26, Maj. Gen. Phụng confirmed that Việt Nam backed and complied with UN regulations on the improvement of women’s role in UN peacekeeping missions.

In the near future, Việt Nam would send more female officers to join the activities in African nations, he added.

The country plans to co-ordinate with the UN Development Programme to organise an international workshop on the connectivity between women and UN peacekeeping activities. — VNS