Speaking at the opening ceremony on July 15, VDPO Director Major General Pham Manh Thang commended the effective coordination for the course’s organisation among the Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI), the US Mission to Vietnam’s Office of Defense Cooperation, and the department’s training centre.
Head of the GPOI Lecture Panel Bengt Folkesson stressed that the participants will be equipped with essential skills to enhance their operational capabilities in field missions.
Military observers take part in field missions to fulfill their duties through monitoring, reporting, investigation, negotiation, working with local people, military commanders and village chiefs, and supporting humanitarian forces, UN police, and other protection forces. They are often deployed unarmed in remote and hostile areas.
Folkesson noted that the GPOI training programme is regularly updated to address the increasing challenges in UN peacekeeping missions.
Representing the participants, Captain Do Huyen Trang, an officer from VDPO, said that the roles of military observers, such as negotiation and information gathering, require not only language proficiency and communication skills but also knowledge and experience.
The training course offers its attendees a great opportunity to learn from experts and colleagues to become future instructors, contributing to the successful performance of their missions, she noted.
