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| A session of UNSC (Photo: VNA) |
As President of the United Nations Security Council in April 2021, Vietnam will organize a high-level open debate on the role of regional organizations in promoting confidence-building and dialogue in conflict prevention and resolution on April 19 via both in-person and online forms.
The event will be presided over by State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, marking the first time a high-ranking leader of Vietnam has chaired an event within the framework of the UN Security Council. This is also the first important multilateral diplomatic event of the Vietnamese President since the 13th National Party Congress.
Building trust and dialogue
Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Hoang Giang said that Vietnam has presided over the making of, and actively consulted to pass the Statement of the UN Security Council President.
The Statement will affirm the importance of cooperation between the United Nations, its Security Council and regional organizations in conflict prevention and settlement through peaceful measures, on the basis of respecting basic principles of international law and the UN Charter, and underlined confidence-building and dialogue measures as essential elements to contribute to conflict prevention and settlement.
The Statement will call for efforts to strengthen cooperation between the UN, its Security Council and regional organizations as well as between regional organizations in conflict prevention and settlement towards the building of sustainable peace, while encouraging the UN and the international community to support the improvement of capacity of regional organizations in conflict prevention and settlement, post-conflict reconstruction, and peace maintenance.
“The role of regional organizations in promoting trust building and dialogue in conflict prevention” is the most important and inclusive theme of the UN Security Council which is the UN’s main body in the prevention of wars and conflicts and maintenance of international peace and security, Giang said, adding that as a member of many important regional mechanisms, especially ASEAN, Vietnam wants regional organizations to further promote their roles, improve their images and share responsibility with the UN in preventing and solving conflicts in the region, for the stability and prosperity of the region and the world.
Do Hung Viet, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organizations, emphasized that when building priorities for the working term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, Vietnam determined to promote the role of regional organizations in cooperation with the UN Security Council in particular and the UN in general.
The upcoming high-level open debate will elevate Vietnam’s initiatives to contribute to maintaining international peace and security. Through this event, Vietnam wants to affirm its commitment and efforts to address global challenges facing the international community, Viet added.
In particular, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s presiding over the event is the affirmation at the highest level about Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralism, and proactive and active international integration during its new stage of development.
Intensifying ASEAN’s role
According to Viet, as a member of ASEAN, Vietnam wants ASEAN to have an increasing voice, position and role in matters directly related to the region as well as enhancing the bloc's presence as a regional organization at the UN.
Through this event, Vietnam will contribute to drawing the attention of the international community and the United Nations to cooperation with ASEAN, and strengthening the bloc’s role at international forums and institutions in the coming time.
The open debate will be also an opportunity for leaders of the UN and regional organizations such as ASEAN, the European Union (EU), the African Union (AU), as well as the UN Security Council member states to assert the important role of regional organizations, share experience of each regional organization in dealing with difficulties and challenges in their respective regions.
Vietnam expects this to be the start of a longer process at the UN Security Council on issues related to regional organizations and their role in promoting trust building and dialogue in conflict prevention, thus contributing to the UN’s joint efforts to maintain peace, security and development in the world.
