Vietnamese military doctors held the flags of the United Nations and Vietnam at the Juba International Airport, beginning their duties in UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan.(Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has made active contributions to the United Nations’activities and the country’s prestige and international status have improvedsince it joined the UN on 20 September 1977.
Thecountry became a UN member at a time when it had to deal with post-war severeconsequences, re-organise its backward economy and restore production after the liberation of the south in 1975.
Major donor organisations included the UN Development Programme; the World FoodProgramme; the UN Children's Fund; the UN Population Fund; and the World HealthOrganisation provided substantial support for the Vietnamese Government’sinvestment in terms of socio-economic development, focusing on education, health care and familyplanning.
In 1986-1996, Vietnam implemented a renewal roadmap, and the UN’s cooperation becamea significant source of support for the Government of Vietnam in building developmentpolicy, enhancing the capacity of State agencies and their personnel’s skills.
During1997-2000, the UN prioritised providing assistance for Vietnam in povertyreduction, social policy; reform and development management; environmental andnatural resources management; aid coordination, state management and resourcemobilisation.
In the process of industrialization, modernisation and internationalintegration in Vietnam, the UN has helped the country implement itssocio-economic development goals and fulfil the UN’s Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).
After Vietnam became a middle-income country, the cooperation between Vietnamand the UN shifted from technical assistance to policy consultation,concentrating on areas such as sustainable poverty reduction, environmentalprotection, response to climate change and sea level rising, human resourcestraining, institution building and gender equality.
Regarding development cooperation at the UN, Vietnam has promoted South-Southcooperation through building models and engaging in trilateral cooperationprojects, and worked with the UN to pilot the Delivering as One (DaO) initiative,thus contributing to improving connectivity among UN organisations in Vietnam.
Vietnam is working to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the UN Initiative on resilience to ElNino and La Nina.
OnJuly 5, 2018, Vietnam and the UN signed the new OneStrategic Plan (OSP) for 2017-2021 between the Vietnamese Government andthe 18 UN agencies.
This is an important milestone for the two sides, marking their strongcommitment to implementing the Agenda for sustainable development until 2030.
Vietnam has contributed to the core cooperation pillars of the UN and to thefulfillment of diplomatic objectives and tasks of the organisation.
The country also upholds the fundamental principles of international law and ofthe UN Charter in resolving international conflicts and disputes by peaceful measures,on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity,non-interference in internal affairs of any country and not using force orthreatening to use force.
Vietnam has made significant contributions to disarmament, especially nucleardisarmament and other weapons of mass destruction.
Asthe coordinator of ASEAN at the UN Security Council, Vietnam has spoken onbehalf of ASEAN countries at several open discussions of the council on issuesof ASEAN’s concern. The country has also been involved in the intergovernmentalnegotiation process of the UN General Assembly on the reform of the UN SecurityCouncil.
Vietnam has received high votes to help run UN agencies, notably the UN SecurityCouncil (UNSC) (2008-2009), the UN Economic and Social Council (the terms of 1998-2000and 2016-2018); the UN Human Rights Council (term 2014-2016), the UNESCOExecutive Council (2015 - 2019), and the International Law Commission(2017-2021).
Vietnamwas credited as ASEAN coordinator at the UN Human Rights Council. In this role,the country is active in coordinating the stances of ASEAN countries in the council.
Asia-Pacificcountries unanimously nominated Vietnam as theonly candidate of the region for a non-permanent seat at the UNSC for the2020-2021 tenure at the election in June next year. This showed theirsupport for and trust in Vietnam’s role and capacity.
Vietnam has actively participated in multilateral defence and securitymechanisms, including UN peacekeeping operations, non-traditional securitydrills and other activities.
Vietnam is among four countries in SoutheastAsia selected to be the training sites for the UN peacekeeping forces, with thefirst training course to be held in Vietnam at the end of this year.
In implementing the 12th National PartyCongress’s Resolution, Vietnam will continue its active work to help maintainpeace, stability and sustainable development in the region and in the world,and to further deepen its relationship with the UN.-VNA
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