A COVID-19 patient under treatment in Spain (Photo: AFP/VNA) New York (VNA) – The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the weak pointsand vulnerability of the international community as well as loopholes in theglobal legal systems, which must be addressed so as to increase resilience andenhance capacity to cope with future pandemics and challenges, said AmbassadorDang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnamese mission to the UN.
The Vietnamese diplomat made the remarks at an onlinediscussion on the sidelines of the Legal Committee of the 75th UN GeneralAssembly on October 16, which drew the participation of more than 80 UN memberstates and members of the UN’s International Law Commission (ILC). Thediscussion, co-organised by the Missions to the UN of Vietnam, Chile, Portugal,Sierra Leone and Turkey, aimed to assess legal aspects related to the COVID-19pandemic.
Ambassador Quy laid stress on the necessity to enhance internationalcooperation mechanisms, with the UN playing the central role and the engagementof international and regional organisations, stakeholders and communities, basedon respect for the UN’s charter and basic principles of international laws onequality and national sovereignty.
Several members of the ILC stressed the need to complete the internationallegal framework to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, with some calling for adocument on promoting international cooperation and enhancing the internationalcommunity’s preparedness and response capacity in global emergencies andchallenges.
Nguyen Hong Thao, a Vietnamese member of the ILC, said theUN General Assembly’s Legal Committee and the ILC should study an internationallegal framework on protecting citizens from global challenges, including diseases.
Other representatives believed that the COVID-19 outbreak has posed a widerange of legal issues that need to be considered. They advocated internationalcollaboration, with the UN at the central position, to ensure that allcountries can get equal access to medical equipment, medicine and vaccine./.
VNA
