Vietnam’s efforts to promote peace, cooperation and development

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is scheduled to attend the high-level General Debate at the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.

The United Nations headquarters in New York. (Photo: UN)
The United Nations headquarters in New York. (Photo: UN)

The event continues to affirm Vietnam’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development, diversification and multilateralisation, proactive and active international integration, promoting its effective role at multilateral cooperation mechanisms.

The United Nations was established on October 24, 1945. After more than 70 years, the UN has become the largest and most comprehensive global organisation with the participation of all of the world’s independent countries. The UN’s operations are being increasingly expanded in all aspects towards realising its set goals, bringing about positive and significant impacts on each nation and the whole world.

From a membership of 51 countries at the time of its establishment in 1945, the UN now has 193 member countries and is a comprehensive system comprising six principal organs, many subsidiary bodies, 20 specialised organisations and five socio-economic committees in different regions and dozens of funds and programmes. It works in all fields from conflict resolution and prevention, disarmament and non-proliferation, anti-terrorism, refugee protection, environmental protection and sustainable development to the promotion of democracy, human rights and gender equality.

With its significant accomplishments, the UN is recognised by the international community as having an extremely important role in international political life and as an indispensable foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and fair world.

The high-level General Debate at the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly takes place under the theme “Making the United Nations relevant to all people: global leadership and shared responsibilities for peaceful, equitable and sustainable societies".

The UN Secretary-General’s report on the organisation’s tasks in 2018 underlined multilateralisation and the role of the UN in responding to global challenges, especially amid the escalation of a number of conflicts in the world, growing inequality and worsening climate change.

In this situation, all member countries agree that a comprehensive and systematic reform of the UN in line with the new international situation is an urgent and objective requirement in order to increase the role and effectiveness of the UN’s operations.

Vietnam officially joined the UN on September 20, 1977. Since then, the relationship between Vietnam and the UN has been growing ever stronger. The Vietnam-UN relationship is a prime example of development cooperation between UN members and the UN’s role in promoting international cooperation to resolve socio-economic, cultural and humanitarian issues.

Vietnam actively participates in building and implementing the UN’s international treaties, as well as common efforts to help the UN promote its role as an equitable, effective global multilateral institution to meet humankind’s shared aspirations.

Vietnam and the UN recently pledged to implement the One Strategic Plan for 2017-2021 between the Vietnamese government and 18 UN agencies. The effective implementation of these initiatives will help Vietnam achieve its goal of more inclusive growth in the future, enhancing the reputation and standing of Vietnam at the UN and on the wider international stage.

In May 2018, Vietnam was nominated by the Asia-Pacific group as its only candidate for the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure. Such a nomination indicates the strong support and high confidence of regional countries in Vietnam’s role and capacity.

Attending this UN General Assembly session, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc carries Vietnam’s strong message on enhancing the global partnership for a world of peace, equity and sustainable development for all.

As an active member, and a reliable and responsible partner of the international community, Vietnam advocates observing international laws, preventing and resolving conflicts through peaceful and non-violent means, promoting multilateralisation, enhancing global partnership and responsibility sharing, highlighting the role of reforming the UN to make it stronger, more democratic and more effective, while ensuring adequate resources for the UN’s operations, especially in providing support for developing countries.

May PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s attendance at the high-level General Debate of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly be a success, continuing to enhance Vietnam’s reputation and standing on the international stage, reflecting Vietnam’s confidence in a world of multilateral dialogue, respect for international laws, peace, equal cooperation and mutual development.