Unsc

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc sending a message of peace and cooperation to the world

State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that Vietnam was honoured to assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the second time.

“With the aspiration to become a peaceful and prosperous nation, a reliable partner, and a responsible member of the international community, Vietnam remains steadfast in its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, and multilateralisation of relations, promoting international integration and actively contributing to the efforts of the UN and the UNSC,” he stated at last week’s high-level open debate of the council on cooperation between the UN and regional organisations in enhancing confidence-building and dialogue in conflict prevention and resolution.

“Faithful to our motto of partnership for sustainable peace, Vietnam will spare no effort to strengthen the cooperation between the UN and regional organisations, including ASEAN, and elevate such ties, for peace, security, and development around the world,” the president stressed.

While peace, cooperation, and development continue as the prevailing trend and fervent aspirations of all countries and peoples, the world is riddled with challenges. In the past five years, conflicts have taken away half a million lives across the globe. In 2020 alone, the world recorded 20 million refugees, over 50 million people displaced due to conflicts, and around 170 million in need of humanitarian assistance. These are the people who are left behind, and call upon the UNSC to take action.

Against other major challenges such as COVID-19, natural disasters, severe climate change, border and territorial disputes and conflicts, and geo-strategic competition, increased international unity is more crucial than ever.

“Yet,” State President Phuc said, “the paradox at present lies in our waning trust in one another and in multilateral institutions. The strengthening of unity is of great necessity, starting with the cooperation between the UN and the UNSC with regional organisations in our joint efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts through dialogue and confidence-building.”

Vietnam has underscored three proposals. Firstly, the interactions and complementarities between the UN and regional organisations are inherent. They offer a “two-way linkage” to share knowledge and coordinate joint endeavours. The UN should take the lead in increasing cooperation activities and exchanges of experience and best practices in confidence-building and dialogue to prevent conflicts.

On the other hand, regional organisations, with their unique strengths in practical experience, resources, and diverse demands, should bolster cooperation with the UN, engage in dialogues, and share experience at various forums to enhance capacity in preventing and resolving conflicts.

Secondly, it is necessary to further promote the role of multilateralism and uphold the UN Charter and international law, for this is the most concrete and solid foundation to build trust and promote dialogue.

Moreover, early conflict prevention requires inclusive and comprehensive solutions to address the root causes of conflicts, such as poverty, hunger, inequality, and violence. The international community should strive to fulfill the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and other global security and development strategies and initiatives led by the UN, paying greater attention and giving adequate assistance to developing countries who face serious resources’ constraints.

On their part, regional organisations need to have comprehensive agendas, and integrate the UN’s development frameworks and initiatives into their national and regional development plans. They should also strive to narrow political, economic and cultural gaps amongst themselves. In Southeast Asia, ASEAN is making every effort to fulfill the goal of building an ASEAN Community united in politics, diverse in culture, connected in economy, and with increased cooperation with external partners.

As an active ASEAN member, Vietnam has effectively placed COVID-19 under control, enjoyed a high economic growth rate, and actively engaged in international integration.

Thirdly, it is necessary to continue enhancing cooperation between the UNSC and regional organisations through dialogue and cooperation frameworks, and early warning mechanisms for volatilities.

The UNSC needs to continue acknowledging and respecting the perspectives, role, and contributions of regional organisations. It is also needed to mainstream conflict prevention and resolution strategies via dialogue and confidence-building in UN missions, and create favourable conditions for regional organisations to uphold their central role.

In response, regional organisations should further strengthen their proactive and leading role in preventing and resolving conflicts in accordance with international law and the UN Charter. This can only be achieved when each and every member state has strategic trust in each other and share a common political resolve.

Vietnam, which joined the UN in 1977, is rated by the UN and the international community to be a successful model in implementing the UN Millennium Development Goals, and a nation with success and seriousness in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which set out a 15-year plan to achieve the goals and the Paris Agreement on responding to climate change.

Vietnam has also actively boosted initiatives on reforming the organisation. In particular, it is one of the nations taking the lead in carrying out the UN initiative of Delivering as One in order to achieve better operational effectiveness of the UN on a national level.

Vietnam’s UNSC priorities 2020-2021 Serving on the UN Security Council is a serious undertaking. Vietnam is making the most of its two years on the council to contribute to improving the effectiveness of the council, to foster dialogue to help find peaceful solutions to conflicts, and to bring voices of the small and the weak to the work of the council. The country gives a particular focus to: – Conflict prevention, preventive diplomacy, peaceful settlement of disputes and strengthened implementation of Chapter VI of the UN Charter; – Improving the methods of work of the Security Council; enhancing engagement with regional arrangements in the maintenance of International peace and security in accordance with Chapter VII of the UN Charter; – Protection of civilians and critical civilian infrastructures in armed conflict; – Women, children, and peace and security; – Addressing the aftermath of armed conflicts, including threats to civilian populations posed by landmines and explosive remnants of war; – UN peacekeeping; and – Impacts of climate change on global peace and security. Vietnam upholds the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, particularly the principles of sovereign equality of states, refrain for the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state and settlement of international disputes by peaceful means. At regional level, Vietnam is an active member of ASEAN, and seeks to build a peaceful, stable, friendly, and cooperative ASEAN Community, contributing to peace and security, prosperity, and sustainable development of the region and the world at large. Vietnam is consistently pursuing a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation, and development. As a reliable friend and a responsible member of the international community, Vietnam seeks to build strong and diverse ties with countries around the world and to play an active role at multilateral forums, particularly the UN. Vietnam is a strong proponent of multilateralism globally, regionally and inter-regionally. Today’s global challenges require global, effective, and sustainable solutions to which multilateral cooperation can make immense contributions. Vietnam strongly supports the central role of the UN in maintaining international peace and security, furthering cooperation for development, and coordinating joint efforts to address global issues. For the organisation to effectively fulfil its role, reforms are needed to make it more efficient, democratic, and transparent. Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

By Nguyen Dat

An open debate of the UNSC on the Middle East held on January 21 under the chair of Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam and a number of other countries proposed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to meet on the COVID-19 pandemic and urged the Security Council to issue a document on the issue. COVID-19 pandemic has been taking a significant toll across the globe.

Do Hung Viet, director general at Department of International Organisation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , speaks at the meeting (Photo: VNA)

Viet emphasised that Vietnam took the initiative to organise two important events which attracted the attention of the UN and the international community, and marked a milestone of Vietnam at the UNSC.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, Ireland’s Permanent Representative to the UN, said as a new member of the council, Ireland appreciates all three key topics that Vietnam brought to the discussion in April.

The ambassador also said Vietnam has done the right thing when working to connect ASEAN with the Security Council to solve the Myanmar conflict.

Meanwhile, ambassador T.S. Tirumurti, head of the India Mission to the UN, also highly valued Vietnam’s active and increasingly important role during the month it chaired the council.

They hailed the relevance of major topics that Vietnam picked for April as the UNSC President, especially those related to cooperation between the UN and regional organisations, reconciliation diplomacy and confidence-building measures./.VNA

This is the second time Vietnam has assumed the role as President of the UNSC during its non-permanent membership of the Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.

The event saw the participation of over 70 representatives from UNSC member states and UN observers.

During the month, Vietnam proposed and chaired four priority events on the role of regional organisations in enhancing confidence-building and dialogue in conflict prevention and resolution, mine action, protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, and sexual violence in conflict. These topics all put people at the centre and aimed to build and maintain sustainable peace.

Along with these events, Vietnam hosted the drafting of and promoted the adoption of three documents of the Council, including two presidential statements and one resolution.

The most important initiative of Vietnam was the High-level Open Debate on “Cooperation between the UN and regional organisations in enhancing confidence-building and dialogue in conflict prevention and resolution”.

This was the first time the President of Vietnam presided over a meeting of the UNSC and also the first important multilateral diplomatic activity of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc since the 13th National Party Congress. After the event, the Council’s member countries approved a presidential statement proposed by Vietnam on this topic.

The debates on mine action and protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, chaired by Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, received attention and appreciation from UN member states. This was clearly reflected in the co-sponsorship of 65 UN member countries and the voting in favour of all 15 UNSC members for a resolution drafted by Vietnam. Resolution 2537 emphasises the importance of complying with international humanitarian law and ensuring humanitarian aid, especially in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The UNSC also approved the first presidential statement proposed by Vietnam on overcoming the consequences of bombs and mines. The debate on sexual violence in conflict was also welcomed by many UN member countries.

In addition, in the month of Vietnam’s Presidency, the UNSC responded promptly to emerging issues that threatens international peace and security, including those in Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Mali, the Great Lakes, West Sahara, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Abyei Area, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Colombia and Myanmar. Vietnam responded to all the initiatives and proposals of other countries and applied creatively the rules and practices of the UNSC, while promoting consultations and consensus-building for the Council to make timely decisions.

As the UNSC President, Vietnam has promoted the broadest possible participation in UNSC activities through the organisation of meetings and discussions with the UN Secretary-General, in-person meetings among UNSC member states, international press conferences, and many events informing UNSC activities to UN member and observer states, non-governmental organisations, and others.

During the month Vietnam acted as the UNSC President, as of April 29, the Council held 27 official activities, including five open debates, eight meetings to listen to reports, two others to vote on resolutions, and seven to negotiate resolutions. It adopted 12 decisions, including four resolutions and two presidential statements, along with five press statements and one press release.

The UNSC continues its activities on April 30.

At the review meeting, representatives of UN member states highly valued Vietnam’s priority activities, especially its promotion of the UNSC’s attention to the aspect of humanitarian assistance and civilian protection.

They congratulated Vietnam on successfully fulfilling the duties of the Council President in April, noting that the country smoothly chaired UNSC activities and managed to promote the Council’s consensus and UN member states’ participation and contributions.

Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN. VNAVNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – One of Việt Nam’s top priorities in its agenda as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 2020-2021 is to strengthen the role of regional and sub-regional organisations, Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý told the Vietnam News Agency on Thursday.

Quý, who is also Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, made the statement following an April 29 meeting to review Vietnam’s rotating month-long UNSC presidency in April.

During the first time serving as UNSC President last year, Việt Nam successfully hosted an open debate on partnership between the UN and ASEAN, he said.

Another virtual debate on beefing up cooperation between the UN and regional organisations during the second presidency assumption was a concrete action to fulfil Việt Nam’s commitment, he noted, adding that it also provided a chance to promote the image of ASEAN.

Since its inception in 1967, ASEAN has been highly regarded as a grouping very successful in building trust and fostering dialogue, he explained.

As UNSC President in April, Việt Nam put forward four initiatives, three of which adopted two presidential statements and one resolution, the Vietnamese ambassador said.

He held that these initiatives have profound influence on perception of the international community on the importance of a certain issue and create new pushes for the international community to come up with measures for the issue.

Compared to last year’s presidency, this time, Việt Nam has emerged as one of few countries able to fulfilling the twin goals of maintaining positive economic growth and keeping the COVID-19 at bay, he continued. This has helped the country propose initiatives with greater confidence and become more proactive in organising consultations, he added.

According to Quý, Việt Nam’s successful assumption of the role as President of the UNSC in April is a vivid demonstration of the implementation of the foreign policy set out in the 13th National Party Congress at this important multilateral forum. In addition, during the month, Việt Nam performed well an orientation put forth at the congress which is to deepen the country’s bilateral relationship with all countries inside and outside the UNSC, especially those under the council’s discussions in April.

“We have had a very good relationship with those countries, paid attention to their issues, held dialogues with them and left very good impressions on our bilateral relations with them,” he said.

The ambassador went on to say that Việt Nam’s greatest achievement when joining the UNSC is to maintain its reputation as well as promote its prestige and image in the hearts of international friends. Therefore, in the remaining eight months of its tenure and beyond, Việt Nam will continue efforts to contribute to the general work of the council and the UN General Assembly as a whole. VNS