On the 35th anniversary of Vietnam-UN relations, Foreign Minister PhamBinh Minh has written an article on the outstanding developments inVietnam-UN relations and Vietnam’s efforts to make active andresponsible contributions to the UN activities.
Vietnam officiallybecame the 149 th member of the UN, the world’s biggest multilateralorganisation, on September 20, 1977. This began a new chapter inVietnam’s multilateral diplomacy and was essential for the success ofthe country’s renewal process and national construction and defence.This helped raise the nation’s position in the international arena andlater Vietnam successfully completed its stint as a non-permanentmember of the UN Security Council during the 2008-2009 term.
Over the past 35 years, Vietnam-UN relations have developed in everyfield ranging from culture, socio-education, economics and trade tosecurity and politics. This includes jointly carrying out national andregional programmes and working together to settle global issues. Thefollowing are main points in the history of Vietnam-UN relations.
The UN is an important multilateral forum for the Vietnamese Party and State to successfully carry out their foreign policy.
Vietnam has always pursued a foreign policy of independence,self-reliance, peace, openness, multilateralisation and willingness tohave a diverse range of international relationships. Vietnam has nowbecome a trusted and responsible friend and partner of theinternational community.
Vietnam’s leaders haveattended and put forward their views on UN policies, high-level UNdelegations and representatives, including UN Secretary Generals KofiAnnan in 2006 and Ban Ki-moon in 2010.
Through thesehigh-level contacts, Vietnam has promoted cooperation with itspartners as well as international forums such as ASEAN, the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), theFrancophone Community and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Having recognised Vietnam ’s contributions to the UN, member stateshave elected the country to the organisation’s leading positions such asVice President of the UN General Assembly, President of the UN Food andAgriculture Organisation Council, member of the UN Economic and SocialCouncil (ECOSOC) and the UN Human Rights Committee.
When Vietnam was elected as a non-permanent member of the SecurityCouncil, its success in the role was highlighted by the UN GeneralSecretary and many member states. This also helped raise the nation’sprestige and international position and confirmed the Vietnamese Partyand State’s sound external policy.
Vietnam is anactive member of the UN and constantly strives to make active andresponsible contributions to the UN’s operations.
Onpeace and security, Vietnam , which has suffered from wars in therecent past, always supports the UN’s primary goals of maintaining peaceand international security, preventing an arms race, preventing andsettling international disputes and conflicts by peaceful means andincreasing friendship amongst nations.
Vietnam hasbecome a member of international treaties on weapons of massdestruction, the war against terrorism and works closely with the UN andothers countries on these issues.
It was elected as arotary President of the conference on disarmament in early 2009. Atpresent, the country is preparing to take part in UN peacekeepingoperations (PKO) in line with Vietnam ’s policies and capabilities.
In the region, Vietnam has raised its voice onissues relating to peace, stability and cooperation, helping turnSoutheast Asia into a region of peace, friendship and cooperation, freeof nuclear weapons and in the process of establishing a strong ASEANCommunity.
In the fields of cooperation anddevelopment, the UN has highlighted that Vietnam has completed manyof its UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ahead of schedule. It hasalways been eager to share its experiences when carrying out UN actionprogrammes on social development, environment, food security, housing,human rights, population, women, children, and in combating HIV/AIDS. Tocontribute to reforming the UN’s development system, Vietnam becameone of eight pilot countries to implement the action unity initiativein 2006 and this initiative is being successfully implemented in thecountry.
At UN forums, Vietnam has actively joinedin discussions to resolve issues of common concern relatingsocio-economics, culture, humanity and ensuring human rights, andcontributed to the reform of UN agencies in a transparent, democraticand efficient way.
As President of the UN SecurityCouncil in July 2009, Vietnam for the first time put forth aninitiative to consult other UN member states on the UN SecurityCouncil’s annual report and this was praised by other countries. To makefurther contributions to UN activities, Vietnam is activelymobilising support for its candidacy to the UN Human Rights Council forthe 2014-2016 tenure, ECOSOC for the 2016-2018 tenure, and the UNSecurity Council for the 2020-2012 tenure.
The UN has also been essential for Vietnam’s construction and development process.
UN agencies have always accompanied Vietnam’s national developmentplans and programmes. UN aid has met Vietnam ’s demands to surmountits socio-economic difficulties left by the war, especially ineducation, healthcare, the protection and care of mothers and childrenand family planning.
In the past 15 years, the UN’sdevelopment system continues to assist Vietnam in various fields inthe country’s renewal and modernisation and industrialisation. Thisincludes ensuring sustainable development, increasing the capacity ofinternational integration, enhancing legal institutions andadministrative reforms, eradicating hunger and reducing poverty as wellas coping with social issues, including drugs, HIV/AIDS, epidemics andnatural disasters.
The relationship between Vietnamand UN agencies continues to be consolidated with a number of specificprojects and programmes in fields that are commensurate with Vietnam’sdemands such as economic policy consultations (UNDP), food security(FAO, IFAD), health protection (WHO, UNAIDS), and the environment andclimate change (UNDP, UNEP).
UN agencies providemillions of USD in aid to Vietnam annually and its capital, knowledgeand experiences are important for Vietnam ’s socio-economicdevelopment achievements, especially in implementing its MDGs.
Early this year, Vietnam and the UN signed a bilateral cooperationplan in three major fields for the 2012-2016 period, and this thatreflects the strong commitments to cooperation between Vietnam andthe UN. The fields are sustainable development, the enhancement ofaccess to fundamental quality services, social welfare, and promotingpublic administration to help Vietnam implement its socio-economicdevelopment strategy for the 2011-2020 period and its socio-economicdevelopment plan for the 2011-2015 period.
In thecoming years, Vietnam will increase its diplomatic activities and workwith the UN to promote its international integration, which helpsmaintain a peaceful environment favourable for speeding upindustrialisation and modernisation, safeguarding independence,sovereignty and territorial integrity and raising the country’s prestigeand the struggle for peace, national independence, democracy and socialprogress in the world.-VNA