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| Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Nations Dang Dinh Quy (L) and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (Source: VNA) |
The Ambassador stressed that in implementing the Resolution of the 12th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country has been actively participating in the UN’s cooperation and activities across the fields, winning the approval of international friends.
As a result, the country has been elected to many UN agencies with high votes, such as the Security Council (2008-2009 tenure), the Economic and Social Council (1998-2000 and 2016-2018 tenures), the Human Rights Council (2014-2016 tenure), the UNESCO Executive Board (2015-2019 tenure) and the International Law Commission (2017-2021 tenure).
The ambassador stressed that Vietnam has been consistent in upholding basic principles of international law and the UN Charter in addressing international conflicts and disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries without interference into countries’ internal affairs. Vietnam has made many contributions to efforts for disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons, especially nuclear weapon and other mass destructive weapons.
Those achievements are in line with the external policy of enhancing quality and effectiveness of multilateral external work and proactively contributing to the building and formation of multilateral institutions as set in the Resolution of the 12th Party Congress, he said.
Also in implementing the 12th Party Congress’s guideline on proactively joining multilateral defence and security mechanisms, the country has pushed forward with sending personnel to participate in the UN’s peacekeeping activities. The Vietnam Peacekeeping Department was set up in January this year based on the Vietnam Peacekeeping Centre which was established in 2013, with the task of expanding the scale of the country’s participation in UN peacekeeping activities.
In development cooperation in the UN framework, Vietnam has actively advocated South-South cooperation through taking the initiative in building models and joining tripartite projects. The country has worked with the UN to successfully pilot the Delivery as One initiative and build the Green One UN House in Hanoi, helping enhance the operation efficiency and connections of UN agencies in Vietnam.
On July 5 this year, Vietnam and the UN signed a Joint One Strategic Plan (OSP) for the 2017-2021 period between the Vietnamese Government and 18 UN agencies, which Ambassador Quy described as an important milestone marking the strong commitment of both the UN and Vietnam to realising the agenda on sustainable development to 2030. The plan also serves as an important foundation for Vietnam and the UN to carry out specific cooperative activities in the years ahead.
As a member of the Human Rights Council during 2014-2016, Vietnam actively participated in efforts to promote human rights in the world. The country initiated a resolution on the impact of climate change on children’s rights, which was approved by the council. It also proposed and joined in many ideas on protecting the right to work of people with disabilities, ensuring safe working environment for workers at sea, and fighting the trafficking of women and girls.
At the same time, as coordinator of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the Human Rights Council, Vietnam was also active in coordinating the positions of ASEAN member countries at the council and spoke on behalf of the bloc during discussions.
Ambassador Quy affirmed that Vietnam seriously performed the country’s obligations in human rights protection, as demonstrated in its successful delivery of two Universal Periodic Reviews.
The ambassador said Vietnam will continue to work for peace, stability and sustainable development in the region and in the world, while deepening its cooperation with the UN. The country will join other UN member countries in upholding basic principles of the UN Charter and international law, promoting equal, fair, friendly and cooperative international relations and ensuring the legitimate interests of all countries, especially developing countries.
Vietnam will participate deeper in UN peacekeeping activities and strive for the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris agreement on climate change.
The country will keep up with its support of efforts to reform the UN in the direction of enhancing the efficiency, transparency and democracy of its activities.
