In an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency, the UN official hailed Vietnam’s provision of level-2 field hospitals to South Sudan.
Lacroix stressed, this is the kind of capacity that the UN needs its member countries to contribute, as in the more dangerous environment that peacekeepers are working, better protection and medical support is required.
The UN Under-Secretary-General said that UN is working to with Vietnam to deploy an engineering company to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA). He added that this is an area of critical importance, stressing the significance of good engineering to peacekeeping operations.
Lacroix said that the UN expects to work more with Vietnam as the UN can see the country’s capacity through the deployment of level-2 field hospitals and the upcoming engineering unit.
He also hailed Vietnam’s efforts to improve the proportion of women peacekeepers (15 percent currently), adding that he believes that with the participation of more women, peacekeeping operations will be more effective.
The UN needs more specific capacity to better protect peacekeepers, particularly against attacks, along with officers who can collect and analyse information, react quickly and move more quickly to effectively support civilians in conflicts. These are areas of critical need to international peacekeeping operations, which are also potential areas that the UN can work with Vietnam.
Lacroix held that next year, one of the priorities of the UN is to continue the efforts that the UN has implemented with UN member states, including Vietnam, in order to improve the effectiveness, the impacts and the level of protection of peacekeeping operations. He said he believes that in this effort, the UN can count on the cooperation of Vietnam./.
