The Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations under the Ministry of National Defence laid a wreath and offered incense in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi on May 22 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the department's traditional day (May 27).
The department was established on May 27, 2014 to help implement the Party and State’s consistent policy of contributing to a world of peace, cooperation and sustainable development, and affirm Vietnam’s commitment to becoming a responsible member of the international community.
Over the past ten years, more than 800 officers and professional soldiers of the Vietnam People's Army have been sent to UN peacekeeping operations, including five detachments of the Level-2 field hospital to the UN Mission in South Sudan, two others of the engineering unit to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei, and 114 officers deployed as individuals.
At the ceremony, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations Colonel Pham Manh Thang affirmed that all of the Vietnamese units and officers have excellently completed their duties as entrusted by heads of the missions and the UN.
With concerted efforts, professionalism, creativity and high sense of discipline while performing duties, the blue-beret soldiers have left good impression on international colleagues and local people, he stressed, adding they have helped local administrations and people to build roads and schools, organised classes, and provided free medical examination, healthcare advice and medicine for local residents.
The department’s contributions over the past decade have helped popularise the country's traditional cultural values and the Vietnamese soldiers' noble virtues among Vietnamese expatriates and foreigners, thus helping to raise the country’s position and prestige in the international arena, he said.
The blue-beret force promises to remain absolutely loyal to the Party, the Fatherland, the army and the path chosen by President Ho Chi Minh, and continue their work as messengers of global peace by implementing meaningful political and humanitarian activities for the international community, Thang emphasised.
On this occasion, the department also laid a wreath at the monument dedicated to war heroes and martyrs on Bac Son street.
