The second group of Vietnam’s first level-2 field hospital to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (Source: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam’s participation in theUN’s peacekeeping mission is a breakthrough in implementing the Party’sconsistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperationand development, stated Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. NguyenChi Vinh.
The Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre under the Defence Ministrywas established in December 2013 and upgraded to become the Vietnam Department ofPeacekeeping Operations in January 2018. It has facilitated the training ofhuman resources for the mission.
Vietnam began joining in UN peacekeeping operations in 2014.In its initial years, the country sent staff and liaison officers and observersto several African nations, including South Sudan and the Central AfricanRepublic.
In October 2018, Vietnam’s first level-2 fieldhospital, the first-ever independent unit of Vietnam to join the UN peacekeepingmission, deployed two groups of 63 personnel to South Sudan. OnOctober 1, the first group with 32 members set off for the African country. Thesecond group with 31 doctors left Ho Chi Minh City for the mission on October15.
In his online speech delivered from the UN headquarters, UN Under-Secretary-Generalfor Field Support Atul Khare said the deployment reflects Vietnam’s goodwilland responsibility toward the mission as well as its capacity to directlyinvolve in the work, bringing peace and stability to people in difficult areas.
To date, the hospital has offered check-ups and treatment tohundreds of patients.
On December 13, 2018, the Defence Ministry launcheda training course for 70 staff members of the second level-2 fieldhospital to help them gear up for taking over from the first field hospital.
The two hospitals have been designed to be ready to replaceeach other in peacekeeping operations. With diverse functions, they can alsoserve as mobile hospitals in emergency cases like disaster search and rescue inVietnam, and take part in multilateral drills.-VNA
VNA
