With the theme “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all”, delegates attending the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly will discuss the most topical issues, such as climate change, sustainable development, pandemic prevention, disarmament of nuclear weapons.
According to UN officials, this session is expected to create a turning point on the path towards completing the 2030 Agenda and the urgent need to bring 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into focus. Heads of state and government will meet to seek consensus on the transformation and acceleration towards achieving these goals by 2030. According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will lead a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to attend the high-level general discussion session of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly from September 17-26.
Vietnam has successfully fulfilled its role as Vice President of the General Assembly from September 2022 to September 2023. During the process of assuming the position of Vice President of the 77th Session, Vietnam and a number of countries proposed initiatives and solutions to many major issues of the UN, such as promoting international laws, laws on oceans and sea; water source security; responsibility to protect and prevent crimes against humanity; equal access to justice.
In addition, Vietnam chaired the UN General Assembly to discuss and pass a resolution requesting the ICJ to provide advisory opinions on climate change, and related resolutions to organize high-level meetings on climate change, prevention and respond to epidemics, universal health insurance coverage, tuberculosis, and promote discussion topics at the UN Conference on Water. Vietnam has also supported the President of the General Assembly in running common work of the UN, including major high-level events and important meetings, as well as in coordinating and leading the discussion, negotiation and building of documents and processes in support of the UN's long-term strategic direction for the coming years. Vietnam is the country trusted by the President of the 77th UN General Assembly and assigned to chair and run many meetings of the General Assembly.
Vietnam’s completion of the term of a Vice President of the UN General Assembly with many practical contributions once again affirms the country’s position and prestige in the international arena, and at the same time shows the worthy recognition of the international community for Vietnam's achievements and efforts in promoting human rights protection in all fields. This is vivid, convincing evidence to refute distorted arguments that deliberately deny our country's economic, social, and foreign policy progress and achievements.
The UN is the world's largest multilateral organization with the mission of maintaining international peace and security, promoting friendly cooperation and development of countries around the world. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to the US, attending the high-level general discussion session of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, coincided with the celebration of Vietnam's joining the UN. On September 20, 1977, Vietnam officially became the 149th member of the UN and since then, Vietnam has always been a reliable partner, an active member and has made many important contributions to the implementation of UN mission.
Over the past five decades, the UN’s programs and projects have made important contributions to Vietnam's innovation and international integration process, especially the development of socio-economic infrastructure, education, and healthcare, economics, hunger eradication and poverty reduction, environmental protection, and sharing development experiences in many fields. Thanks to its positive contributions to the common efforts of the international community, Vietnam has been trusted to be elected to many important UN organizations such as the Security Council (2008-2009, 2020-2021), the Economic - Society Council (1998-2000, 2016-2018), Human Rights Council (2014-2016), International Law Commission (2017-2021, 2023-2027), Executive Council of the UN Development Program (UNDP).
According to Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, Vietnam has achieved many important development achievements, highly appreciated by the UN and the international community. According to UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, Vietnam has made positive contributions to the common work of the UN. She also appreciated Vietnam's responsible participation in UN peacekeeping forces, deploying effectively achieve SDGs and make efforts to implement commitments to combat climate change and promote development cooperation for the common benefit of the community.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres once assessed that Vietnam is an important factor contributing to peace and stability in the region and the world. Last year, the UN Secretary General paid an official visit to Vietnam on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Vietnam-UN cooperation, after Vietnam successfully completed its term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2020-2021 term and has just been elected as a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term.
The visit demonstrated that the UN attaches great importance to cooperation with Vietnam, Vietnam's role at the UN and multilateral forums, and recognizes important achievements in innovation and development as well as Vietnam's position as a member with active, responsible and effective contributions to the activities of the UN and the international community.
The visit of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, which took place in October 2022, is the fourth visit by a UN Secretary General to Vietnam (previously the visits of Mr. Boutros Ghali in 1993, Mr. Kofi Annan in May 2006 and Mr. Ban Ki-moon in May 2015).
