Attending the conference were Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, Permanent Deputy Head of the Inter-Agency Working Group, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee of the Ministry of National Defense on participation in UN peacekeeping activities; representatives of the National Assembly's Committee on National Defense and Security, the National Assembly Office, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Central External Relations Commission, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, etc.

Delegates attending the conference.

The conference assessed that in recent times, Vietnam's participation in UN peacekeeping activities has been basically implemented synchronously and effectively, achieving many important results, creating a positive effect on Vietnam's responsibility towards the international community. Resolution No. 130/2020/QH14 of the National Assembly on participating in the UN peacekeeping force is basically consistent, consistent and synchronous with the 2013 Constitution, the 2018 Law on National Defense and the 2018 Law on People's Public Security. The coordination between the Ministry of National Defense and ministries and branches in implementing Resolution No. 130/2020/QH14 and a number of related decrees of the Government has always been of interest, directed and implemented relatively synchronously, demonstrated in the coordination of research, advising on the promulgation of legal documents, organizing interdisciplinary working groups to inspect Vietnamese forces at missions, and coordinating the implementation of processes and procedures for sending forces to participate in UN peacekeeping activities. Vietnam's forces participating in UN peacekeeping activities have focused on creating resources and improving capacity; and have been fully ensured of materials and equipment during the performance of their tasks. The work of propaganda, dissemination and legal education on participation in UN peacekeeping activities has received attention, investment and promotion, creating a major change in awareness of the importance of participating in UN peacekeeping activities.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien speaks at the conference.

Delegates also acknowledged that due to the objective reason that Vietnam has not participated in UN peacekeeping activities for a long time, it is inevitable that the system of legal documents in this field is not complete, synchronous, and has not kept up with the development of the task of participating in UN peacekeeping activities. In addition, the national coordination work on participating in UN peacekeeping forces is not clear, has not been implemented synchronously and systematically; a number of regimes and policies to ensure the force participating in UN peacekeeping activities have not met practical requirements, have not kept up with the development of the task of participating in UN peacekeeping activities...

Colonel Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department, presented a summary report on law enforcement on participation in UN peacekeeping activities.

Delegates agreed that it is necessary to continue researching, developing and perfecting the system of legal documents on participation in UN peacekeeping activities to meet practical requirements and task requirements in the new situation; prepare a dossier to propose the development of a Law on participation in UN peacekeeping forces to report to the Government and the National Assembly for consideration in accordance with prescribed procedures.

Concluding the conference, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien hoped that ministries and branches would pay attention to and support the Ministry of National Defense and the Steering Committee in implementing the development of the Law on participation in the UN peacekeeping force in accordance with the Government's direction to contribute to completing Vietnam's system of legal documents in this field.

Conference scene.

To carry out the next steps in preparing the dossier for the proposal to develop the Law on participation in the UN peacekeeping force, Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien requested the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department - the Standing Agency of the Steering Committee to preside over and coordinate with relevant agencies and units to absorb as much as possible the opinions and discussions of the delegates at the conference to complete the summary report on the implementation of the law on participation in the UN peacekeeping force, and promptly report to the competent authority for consideration and decision; emphasizing that this report is an important content in the dossier for the proposal to develop the Law on participation in the UN peacekeeping force; requesting the Legal Department (Ministry of National Defense) to preside over and coordinate with professional agencies to guide the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department to deploy the contents serving the work of preparing the dossier for the proposal to develop the Law on participation in the UN peacekeeping force in accordance with regulations.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien requested relevant agencies and units to continue to pay attention to the work of selecting and training forces to prepare for participation in UN peacekeeping activities; gradually research, advise, and propose expanding the types, scale, and areas of participation in UN peacekeeping activities. Thereby, always correctly demonstrating the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralization, diversification of foreign relations, being an active, proactive, and responsible member of the international community, contributing to enhancing the prestige and position of the country, the Vietnam People's Army, and the Vietnam People's Public Security in the international arena.

News and photos: HOANG VU-ANH VU