14th meeting of the Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations held online

(Bqp.vn) - Vietnam and Japan co-chaired the 14th Meeting of the Experts’ Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations (EWG PKO) Cycle 4 for the 2021-2023 period, within the framework of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) on April 6.

 The event was organized via a video conference with the attendance of representatives of the MND functional agencies, the ASEAN Secretariat, ADMM-Plus EWG PKO, the UNDP in Vietnam, the UN Women, and Defence Attaché Offices of ADMM-Plus members in Vietnam.

At the event in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The event aimed to review outcomes and lessons learned of Cycle 3; discuss on the Cycle 4 Work Plan, the UN Women, Peace and Security (WPS), and female participation in PKO, etc.

Speaking at the event, Senior Colonel Mac Duc Trong, Head of Vietnam EWG PKO affirmed that the ADMM-Plus has been an effective platform for practical cooperation among the participating countries’ defence establishments. During its one-decade history of operation and development, the ADMM-Plus has been contributing to strengthening security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region and in the world as well. Accordingly, the ADMM-Plus currently focused on seven areas of practical cooperation, in which peacekeeping operations have increasingly emerged as one of the main focuses. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has posed long-term economic and political consequences for peacekeeping operations. Though in-person training and conferences for peacekeeping have been virtually postponed or cancelled as the consequences of Covid-19 control and prevention measures, Vietnam and Japan take initiatives by organizing 14th Meeting of EWG PKO Cycle 4 as a forward-looking response to sustain the momentum of the EWG PKO, he noted.

Ms. Tomoko Matsuzawa, Head of Japan EWG PKO believed that the result of the coference will contribute to respective PKO commitments and activities of each country. Japan, as the co-chair, firmly commits to make this cycle a beneficial and productive one for all member states, she affirmed.