The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, on February 21 thanked Vietnam for its strong support for as well as personnel contributions to UN peacekeeping operations.
Peacekeepers hold flags of Vietnam and the UN before leaving for the UN Mission in South Sudan (Photo: VNA) – The
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre
Lacroix, on February 21 thanked Vietnam for its strong support for as well as personnel
contributions to UN peacekeeping operations.
He noted the Vietnam has sent
personnel to the UN peacekeeping forces since 2014 and continually made active
contributions in this regard. It deployed a Level-2 field hospital to the UN Mission
in South Sudan (UNMISS) for the first time in October 2018. So far, it has sent
75 officers, including 16 females, to the peacekeeping force, ranking 62nd among the UN member states.
Vietnamese peacekeepers are
performing duties at the UN missions in South Sudan and the Central African
Republic. The country has also pledged to soon deploy personnel to the UN Interim
Security Force for Abyei, a disputed area between Sudan and South Sudan.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix (Photo: AP)
Lacroix held that Vietnam’s
Level-2 field hospital in South Sudan has played an important role in the
common success of UNMISS. It has not only helped ensure health and medical conditions
for UN peacekeepers, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but also organised workshops to improve the awareness of major issues such as COVID-19, HIV/AIDS,
and gender-based violence.
He also spoke highly of the
Vietnamese officers’ professionalism, dedication, efforts, and sacrifice while
performing duties in difficult environments, expressing his sympathies on the death
of Lt. Col. Do Anh, who had died earlier this year while working for the UN
mission in the Central African Republic./.