Vietnamese soldiers help Cambodian people harvest rice. (Photo: VNA)

On April 3, 1953, in a letter to officers and soldiers on combat duty in the Upper Laos Campaign, President Ho Chi Minh advised: "Helping the people of a neighboring country means helping yourself."

Thoroughly imbued with that spirit of his, Vietnamese soldiers always uphold the international spirit, overcome all difficulties, and fight bravely to fulfill international obligations.

And one of the bright spots over the past 10 years has been promoting the qualities of "Uncle Ho's Soldiers" in participating in United Nations peacekeeping activities, contributing to protecting the Fatherland early, from afar, by peaceful means and spreading the image of "Uncle Ho's Soldiers" to international friends.

Practical contribution to world peace and security

Participating in United Nations peacekeeping operations is an important task of the Vietnam People's Army in the new period, contributing to the consistent realization of Vietnam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development; diversification, multilateralization, proactive and active international integration; Vietnam is a friend, a reliable partner and a responsible member of the international community; making practical contributions to regional peace and security; upholding international law and the United Nations Charter; preventing and resolving disputes by peaceful means.

Through this meaningful activity, the qualities of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" with their inherent values ​​have been promoted, raised to an international level, reflecting the cultural quintessence and heroic historical traditions of the Vietnamese people, of the heroic Vietnam People's Army, with a steadfast spirit, high political responsibility, good professional capacity, professional style, enthusiasm, dynamism and creativity. In order to concretize the Party and State's guidelines and policies on sending the Army and Police forces to participate in United Nations peacekeeping activities, the Government has established an Inter-sectoral Working Group, and the Ministry of National Defense has established a Steering Committee for the Ministry of National Defense to participate in United Nations peacekeeping activities.

The first 32 medical staff from Vietnam's Level 2 Field Hospital No. 1 have arrived in South Sudan, carrying out the United Nations peacekeeping mission in this East African country (October 2, 2018). (Photo: VNA)

In 2014, the Ministry of National Defense established the Vietnam Peacekeeping Center with the function of advising the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defense to carry out national coordination on participation in the United Nations peacekeeping force.

Immediately after that, in May 2014, Vietnam sent the first two military officers to participate in the United Nations peacekeeping mission as Liaison Officers at the Mission of the Republic of South Sudan.

To date, after more than 10 years of deploying its forces, Vietnam has sent nearly 900 officers and professional soldiers as individuals and units to United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Republic of South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Abyei region and the United Nations Headquarters.

Regarding the unit type, in 2018, Vietnam successfully deployed Level 2 Field Hospital No. 1 for the first time with 63 military medical officers and staff along with medical equipment at the South Sudan mission.

Currently, the Vietnam People's Army is actively preparing to deploy the 6th echelon to this mission.

Vietnam's Level 2 Field Hospital teams always ensure high-quality healthcare and treatment for UN staff and local people, especially the application of new techniques in diagnosing and treating patients, suitable for actual field conditions in the area, successfully performing complex surgeries, and safely transporting many dangerous cases by air.

Those outstanding results have been highly appreciated by leaders, United Nations agencies and the Commander of the South Sudan Mission as well as local authorities for their dedication, devotion and professionalism in performing their duties.

Vietnam's Level 2 Field Hospital at the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission has become a prestigious and quality healthcare address with highly qualified, dedicated and devoted doctors and nurses, creating a special mark in the area.

In recognition of these outstanding achievements, the United Nations leaders highly appreciated and twice sent Letters of Commendation to the Vietnamese Government to thank and praise the contributions of the Vietnam Level 2 Field Hospital at the UNMISS mission (South Sudan).

“New wind” in peacekeeping activities

After many years of preparation, resource creation and force building, in 2022, for the first time, the Vietnam People's Army successfully deployed the No. 1 Engineering Team with 184 officers and staff along with more than 2,000 tons of motorbikes, engineering and construction equipment to the United Nations Interim Security Mission in the Abyei region (UNISFA mission).

This is a new area with many difficulties and complications in deploying forces and carrying out tasks, but it also represents a breakthrough for Vietnam in participating in the United Nations peacekeeping mission.

After only a short time of deployment, the Vietnamese Engineer Team No. 1 was highly appreciated by the UNISFA Mission Commander, local authorities, and people of the Abyei region, who affirmed that: The Vietnamese Engineer Team has changed the face of the Abyei Region, increasing the trust of the people of the region in the United Nations peacekeeping forces with their professional capacity and dedication to work.

During their mission in the area, the Vietnamese "blue beret" force has built and maintained good relationships with the people as well as the local government, creating a lot of sympathy, trust and gratitude from them through practical support activities to help improve people's lives such as: teaching, guiding farming, making school desks and chairs, building houses, building classrooms, drilling wells, donating generators, providing free medical examinations and medicine...

The new humane and humanitarian approach for the community of the Vietnam People's Army in participating in United Nations peacekeeping activities has been recognized by the mission commander and United Nations leaders as an initiative, a good reference model and is considered a "breath of fresh air" in United Nations peacekeeping activities.

Speaking with Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien, Deputy Minister of National Defense, on the occasion of the visit and inspection of Vietnamese forces at the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Abyei in October 2022 by the Heads of the Ministry of National Defense and the Heads of the Ministry of Public Security, Mr. Aoatch Deng Biong, Mayor of Abyei region, affirmed that the people of Abyei region are always grateful to the Vietnam People's Army for sending the Engineering Team to the UNISFA mission to carry out the peace mission in this difficult and arduous land.

In addition to the unit-based deployment, Army and Police officers deploy individually to take on many different positions, including many important positions such as: operations, logistics, military-civilian coordination, senior training advisor, engineering...

In particular, Vietnam is always proactive in training a team of highly qualified and professional staff to apply to work at the United Nations Headquarters.

Currently, Vietnam maintains 4 military officers and 1 police officer working at the United Nations strategic planning agencies.

At the same time, Vietnam always aims to meet important goals of the United Nations, including increasing the proportion of female soldiers participating in peacekeeping activities.

In recent years, Vietnam has had many activities, practical policies and breakthrough initiatives to enhance the role and participation of women in United Nations peacekeeping activities, thereby contributing to promoting the United Nations Agenda on Women, Peace and Security./.

According to vietnamplus.vn