Vietnam strives to achieve 20% female soldiers participating in UN peacekeeping

On July 29, at the headquarters of the Australian Ministry of Defense, a delegation from the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department (Ministry of Defense) led by Major General Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department, had a working session with Mr. Bernard Philip, Director of the Department of International Policy, Australian Ministry of Defense.

At the meeting, the two sides discussed the results of bilateral cooperation in the field of United Nations peacekeeping , future cooperation orientations, and signed a 3-year plan (2025-2027) to implement the peacekeeping partnership agreement between the two governments.

Vietnam aims to reach 20% female soldiers participating in UN peacekeeping

PHOTO: TN

Major General Pham Manh Thang emphasized that Vietnam's policy is to proactively and actively participate in multilateral mechanisms on defense and security, including United Nations peacekeeping. At the same time, he affirmed that Vietnam is a responsible member of the United Nations.

According to Major General Pham Manh Thang, Vietnam began sending individual officers to participate in UN peacekeeping operations in 2014, and to date, about 1,100 Vietnamese soldiers have participated in missions. Notably, the proportion of female soldiers participating in operations reached 16.6%, much higher than the average of other countries.

"Vietnam aims to achieve 18% female participation in units and 20% female participation in individuals by 2025," Major General Pham Manh Thang emphasized.

The Director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department informed that Vietnam has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the field of United Nations peacekeeping with 10 countries. Of these, 4 are member countries of the United Nations Security Council.

Australia is the only country to sign a peacekeeping partnership agreement with Vietnam at the Government level, and is considered one of Vietnam's leading partners in the field of United Nations peacekeeping.

In the coming period, the two sides agreed to focus on implementing the signed 3-year plan (2025 - 2027), with specific activities such as: promoting experience exchange programs on mental health and force protection into annual activities, cooperation in the fields of logistics, search and rescue, and multilateral peacekeeping exercises.

At the meeting, Mr. Bernard Philip highly appreciated Vietnam's increasingly active role in peacekeeping missions, and expressed his belief in the prospect of increasingly deep and practical cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides also agreed to promote more substantive activities within the framework of the agenda on women, peace and security (WPS) and accelerate the recognition of peacekeeping training programs organized by Vietnam as meeting UN standards.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-phan-dau-dat-ty-le-20-nu-quan-nhan-tham-gia-gin-giu-hoa-binh-lien-hiep-quoc-185250729175528316.htm