Vietnam will send one more army officer to take part in the United Nations peacekeeping in an effort to increase the country’s engagement in the international mission.

Lieutenant Colonel Vu Thi Kim Oanh to be dispatched for UN peacekeeping mission. Photo: Ministry of National Defense

On August 17, the Ministry of National Defence handed over the president’s decision to send Lieutenant Colonel Vu Thi Kim Oanh to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The officer, who will work as a military observer, is scheduled to leave Vietnam in early September.

This is the 39th Vietnamese female peacekeeper participating in the UN mission, according to Major General Hoang Kim Phung, head of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations (VDPO). He said the rate of Vietnamese female peacekeepers is 16%, much higher than in other countries.

Vietnam took on peacekeeping missions in 2014. As of August 2021, Vietnam has dispatched more than 245 army officers to work in the UN Headquarters, UNMISS, and Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Vietnam has reiterated that peacekeeping continues to be one of the pillars of its defense diplomacy.

Defense diplomacy has been seen as one of the important channels contributing to national sovereignty protection in a peaceful manner on the basis of international law.

In June 2018, the United Nations recognized VDPO as one of four centers in Southeast Asia for international training. Between 2018 and 2020, Vietnam provided three training courses for domestic and international officers.

The National Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body, on November 13, 2020, ratified a Resolution on Vietnam’s participation in the UN peacekeeping missions following the 2013 Constitution with supplementation on this issue.