Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang presents the third-class Fatherland Protection Order for leaders of the Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations on Monday while attending the 10-year foundation anniversary ceremony. — VNA/VNS Photo Trọng Đức

Việt Nam has dispatched more than 800 officers and soldiers to UN peacekeeping missions over the past ten years, said Colonel Phạm Mạnh Thắng, director of the Việt Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on Monday.

The department and its Engineering Unit Rotation 1 were honoured to receive the third-class Fatherland Defence Medal on the tenth anniversary of the foundation during a ceremony held in Hà Nội.

The Level 2 Field Hospital No 4 and Colonel Mạc Đức Trọng, captain of the Engineering Unit Rotation 1 were awarded certificates of merit from the Prime Minister.

Based on assessments from UN agencies and the mission commander, Colonel Thắng said the Vietnamese peacekeeping force has done a great job of completing the task. The team members have impressed mission commanders, foreign friends and colleagues with their professionalism, inventiveness, and high level of discipline.

Among 800 professional officers and soldiers deployed on UN peacekeeping missions were two engineering unit teams to Abyei, five teams of Level 2 Field Hospital personnel serving on the South Sudan mission, and 114 individual officers, he said.

The proportion of Vietnamese officers who successfully finished their assignments is far greater than the UN average, he said.

In addition to providing medical examinations, treatments and health consultations, the Vietnamese engineering units in Abyei have helped the local government and people with road construction and repair, classroom construction and renovation, volunteer teaching, and drilling water wells for local residential areas and schools.

Numerous patients, including locals and United Nations employees, have received excellent medical care and treatment from the Việt Nam Level 2 Field hospitals in South Sudan. They also used innovative methods for identifying and treating patients in line with real-world circumstances. They performed intricate surgeries and air ambulance transfers of numerous risky situations with success.

Hoàng Xuân Chiến, deputy minister of national defence and head of the interdisciplinary working group, asked the department to intensify research and strategic consultation with leaders at all levels to progressively expand the number of forces, areas, and participating positions, particularly command positions at the UN headquarters, in nations and missions where Việt Nam excels, including engineering forces, military police, communications, and military transportation.

It is necessary to continue to maintain and increase the rate of female soldiers participating in peacekeeping activities while working with relevant domestic agencies and international organisations to take advantage of support in terms of resources and sharing experiences, Chiến, who is also head of the ministry’s steering committee on UN peacekeeping activities, said.

The force has also been ordered to enhance its capacity to well perform the national peacekeeping coordination task. — VNS