Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Defence Minister and head of the ministry’s steering committee for Vietnam’s participation in UN peacekeeping activities, handed over the decisions and assigned tasks to the officers.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Ba Hung and Lieutenant Colonel Ly Thanh Tam will work as military observers in South Sudan, while Major Dao Duy Tung will be an information analysis advisory officer in the Central African Republic.

Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Kim Phung, head of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said the officers are highly qualified and rich in management and command experience. They have been fully trained to meet the professional demands of UN peacekeeping missions.

Vinh reminded the officers to concentrate on ensuring security and safety, promoting mutual support while performing their tasks, strengthening international solidarity, and maintaining absolute safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

He noted that the pandemic is still ravaging many countries and may affect peacekeeping operations, but expressed his belief that the three officers will complete all assigned tasks.

Hung said that he and his two fellow officers are ready for their missions.

He pledged to accomplish all the tasks assigned by the Defence Ministry and the UN, while ensuring safety and contributing to enhancing the image and profile of Vietnam and its military in the international arena.

In its six years of involvement in UN peacekeeping operations, Vietnam has sent 53 military officers to South Sudan and the Central African Republic, including four women.

There have also been 126 Vietnamese officers and doctors joining Field Hospitals No 1 and 2 in South Sudan, including 20 women. VNA