Vietnam sends more military officials for UN peacekeeping missions

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Linh Pham 18:09, 2019/06/28

Vietnam`s first officials took part in the UN missions in conflict-ridden South Sudan in October 2018.

Vietnam on June 28 sent additional seven military officials for the United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The Ministry of Defense announces the president's decision on sending seven officials for the UN mission. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The officials will serve the UN missions in the two African countries for 12 months under the assignment by President Nguyen Phu Trong, local media has reported.

The officials include female Lieutenant Colonel from Special Forces and three out of them already assumed their missions in both South Sudan and the Central African Republic once, Major General Hoang Kim Phung, director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department, told media.

“Officers are trained with professional and survival skills under any weather conditions and situation in the countries they are dispatched to and the capability to get ready for the missions,” Phung said.

Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Chi Vinh said the officials are believed to fulfill their tasks with both qualifications and capability.

Vietnam began participating in the UN Peacekeeping Missions in June 2014. After four years of preparations, groups of military officials were sent to South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

Vietnamese UN Peacekeeping Mission. Photo: VietNamNet

So far, more than 100 Vietnamese officials have joined the UN missions, of whom 37 have finished their missions. Many of them get compliments from the UN, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

In addition, Vietnam has trained 290 officials, including 38 females for the UN missions from 2020, the Tuoi Tre quoted Major General Hoang Kim Phung as saying.

In October 2018, Vietnam’s first ever medical team landed in conflict-ridden South Sudan. The Vietnamese contingent provided second line health care, emergency resuscitation and stabilization, limb and lifesaving surgical intervention, basic dental care and casualty evacuation to the next level of medical care. They were also in charge of covering the largest protected site for civilians in the African country which had been providing refuge to nearly 115,000 people.

Many countries have helped train Vietnam officials for UN missions, including France and Australia. Australia’s largest military transport aircraft was mobilized to deploy Vietnam’s first Military Level 2 Field Hospital to South Sudan last year.

This country has also provided several English language courses at different levels for officers serving at the military field hospital, in addition to a power generator, two ambulances, and two C-17 aircraft to carry Vietnam’s peacekeepers and equipment to South Sudan in October, according to Major General Hoang Kim Phung.

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