Vietnam commends the UN Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) for its help to the Iraqi Government’s efforts for national reconciliation, humanitarian relief, reconstruction and development.

At a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York on August 4, the Vietnamese deputy representative to the UNSC Ambassador Bui The Giang also praised UNAMI’s support for talks between Iraq and regional countries on issues of mutual interest such as energy, refugees, security and the management of cross border water flows.

“Together with the extension of UNAMI’s provincial outreach and the establishment of other UN agencies’ permanent presence in Iraq, we believe this support constitutes an important contribution to strengthening the UN’s role in the development of a stable, secure and prosperous Iraq as enshrined in the UN Assistance Strategy for Iraq 2008-2010 and the UN Development Assistance Framework for Iraq 2011-2014,” said the Vietnamese diplomat.

At the same time, Ambassador Giang underlined the challenges Iraq has to face when assuming responsibility for its own security and its parliamentary elections planned for early 2010.

He used the occasion to call upon all parties in Iraq to make the national interests the utmost priority, halt any potentially destabilising acts and jointly shoulder the national agenda for reconciliation, political stabilisation and socio-economic reforms.

The ambassador urged the UNAMI and other UN agencies to strengthen the coherence and efficiency of their operational activities, which will help to properly address the needs of the Iraqi people in the future.

He also stressed on the importance of international assistance to be coordinated to avoid a duplication of resources, taking into account Iraq ’s sovereignty, independence and territorial rights./.