VN stresses peacekeeping's important role

New York (VNA) - The Vietnamese representative to the UN has described peacekeeping as the flagship activity of the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security.

Hoang Chi Trung, Vietnamese Ambassador and Charge d' Affaires to the UN said at the
UN Security Council debate on Jan. 23 that peacekeeping has helped to restore
peace and stability and to bring a difference to the lives of millions of people in
various regions around the world.

Trung added that peacekeeping is now confronted with a number of challenges, the
most fundamental of all is that it is required to address the associated challenges
of personnel management, logistical support, quality assurance, oversight and
political engagement, as well as the durability of political commitment of national
stakeholders, the burden-sharing of the international community and the efficiency
of coordination among a number of United Nations agencies.

The Ambassador reaffirmed Vietnam 's strong support for the efforts and
initiatives to make peacekeeping operations more effective and more efficient.

"It is also our conviction that the establishment and deployment of peacekeeping
missions should strictly observe the purposes and principles enshrined in the
United Nations Charter, and those that have evolved to govern peacekeeping as its
basic principles, namely the consent of the concerned parties, the non-use of
force except in self-defense and impartiality," he said.

He went on to say that in a broader context, the success, credibility and
effectiveness of the United Nations peacekeeping operations continues to rest upon
the respect for the fundamental principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity
and political independence of all States and non-intervention into matters that
are essentially within their domestic jurisdiction.-Enditem