Vietnam hosts the 8th ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network Conference

On June 13, the 8th ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network (APCN) Conference, organized by Vietnam, opened in Hanoi.

Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) attended and delivered the opening speech at the Conference.

Also attending the event were Colonel Pham Manh Thang, Director of the Vietnam Peacekeeping Department; representatives of APCN members, the ASEAN Secretariat, Embassies and Defense Attaché Offices of ASEAN countries in Vietnam.

Vietnam's consecutive hosting of two APCN conferences as the current APCN Chair has directly contributed to maintaining the APCN's momentum. (Photo: Trong Duc)

As the Chair of APCN, Vietnam successfully organized the APCN Conference online in 2020 under the severe impact and influence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This time, Vietnam continued to organize the 8th APCN Conference in person. Vietnam's consecutive organization of two APCN conferences in its role as the current APCN Chair has directly contributed to maintaining the momentum of the APCN, enhancing cooperation and improving capacity building for members to participate more effectively in United Nations peacekeeping missions (UNPMS).

In his opening speech, Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense highly appreciates the importance and significance of this APCN Conference.

This is a valuable opportunity for Vietnam and APCN member countries to exchange expertise, share experiences, lessons and initiatives in organizing training and preparing for the deployment of peacekeeping forces; discuss measures to enhance cooperation in sharing training resources and the effectiveness of performing tasks at the UN Peacekeeping Mission, making a practical contribution to the common peacekeeping efforts of the international community.

Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan said that this conference will discuss and agree on the direction of APCN activities in 2024 and the following years to strengthen the partnership in peacekeeping activities among ASEAN members as determined by previous APCN conferences; strengthen cooperation, linkage, and improve capacity building in the field of UN peacekeeping among ASEAN member countries, contributing to the common efforts in building the ASEAN Community as well as in multilateral cooperation mechanisms on UN peacekeeping within the framework of ADMM.

Highlighting the achievements after more than 9 years of Vietnam participating in UN peacekeeping activities, Senior Lieutenant General Phung Si Tan said that Vietnam's outstanding and impressive successes have been recognized and highly appreciated by domestic public opinion and the international community. Since June 2014, the Vietnam People's Army has deployed 533 officers and staff to perform tasks at missions in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Abyei region and the UN Headquarters.

Appreciating the support and cooperative spirit of APCN members, the Senior Lieutenant General suggested that members continue to further promote the effectiveness of the APCN cooperation mechanism to promote and strengthen the partnership in peacekeeping training in the ASEAN region, contributing to building the ASEAN Community and making effective and practical contributions to UN peacekeeping missions for a peaceful, cooperative and developed region and world.

View of the ASEAN Peacekeeping Centers Network Conference in Hanoi. (Photo: Trong Duc)

Taking place over 3 days (June 13-15), the Conference aims to affirm the role and responsibility of the current APCN Chair and Host, enhance Vietnam's international position in UN peacekeeping cooperation in the ASEAN region, and make practical contributions to improving the effectiveness of participating in UN peacekeeping activities of member countries in the region.

The agenda of the Conference includes plenary sessions, general discussions in the hall and group discussions with some main contents: General introduction of Vietnam's participation in UN peacekeeping activities and results, lessons learned; brief introduction of the Final Field Exercise of the Peacekeeping Experts Group within the framework of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+ PKO-EWG) co-chaired by Vietnam and Japan...

At the Conference sessions, delegates listened to reports from each APCN/ASEAN Peacekeeping Center member updating on the development of each training facility; experiences, lessons and initiatives in organizing training and preparing to deploy peacekeeping forces in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and the digital transformation era.

Within the framework of the Conference, there were also discussions on key issues in improving the effectiveness of implementing tasks at UN peacekeeping missions such as security and safety for UN peacekeeping personnel; increasing the participation of women in peacekeeping activities; protecting civilians; relations with the media; partnerships to enhance peacekeeping capacity building (Tripartite Partnership Program); application of digital transformation in UN peacekeeping activities...

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