United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pauline Tamesis and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (Photo: VNA) Following is the full text of the interview.
Reporter: Could you share with us thesignificance of the UN Secretary-General’s upcoming visit to Vietnam,particularly occasion of the 45th anniversary of Vietnam’s admission to the UN?
UN Resident Coordinator: In the upcoming visit to Vietnam, at the invitation ofthe State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Secretary-General will take part in aceremony to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Vietnam’s membership of the UN.The Secretary-General will meet with senior leaders of the Communist Party, theGovernment and the National Assembly, as well as other senior officials. TheSecretary-General will also participate in a dialogue with the youth.
The focus of the Secretary-General’s visit is expected to be on climate action,as Vietnam seeks to translate commitments made at the 26th United NationsClimate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) into action. As one of themost climate-vulnerable countries in the world, Vietnam is at the frontline ofexperiencing the devastating impacts of climate change, pollution, andenvironmental degradation. At the COP26, Vietnam committed to net-zero carbonemissions by 2050, phase out coal by 2040s, and other initiatives includingending deforestation and reducing methane gas emissions by 2030. With Vietnamalso accelerating its move away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy,the UN has expressed support for Vietnam’s Just Energy Transition Partnershipwith the Group of Seven (G7) nations.
Reporter: What are your comments on Vietnam’s contributions to the UN over therecent years? Would you please refer for the cooperative prospects between Vietnamand the UN via the official visit of the UN Secretary-General to Vietnam aswell as the Southeast Asian nation assuming the non-permanent member of the UNSecurity Council during 2020-2021 and the upcoming position at the UN HumanRights Council during 2023-2025?
UN Resident Coordinator: In recent years, Vietnam has played an importantregional and global role in contributing to maintaining international peace andsecurity. Vietnam has demonstrated itself to be an increasingly active memberof the international community, including its contributions to UN PeaceOperations and to the UN Security Council's Women Peace and Security Agenda.
Vietnam became a troop-contributing country in 2014, and is a new police-contributingcountry, with the first group of Vietnamese police personnel deployed on 14October 2022. Vietnam currently deploys personnel to the United Nations InterimSecurity Force for Abyei (UNISFA), United Nations Mission in South Sudan(UNMISS), and United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Missionin Mali (MINUSMA). In 2014, Vietnam also set up an international peacekeepingtraining centre, one of four in the Asia-Pacific region.
As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 term, Vietnamwas noted for its adoption of the first-ever Presidential Statement onupholding the UN Charter, reaffirming its commitment to multilateralism. AsChair of ASEAN in 2020, Vietnam advanced integration across Southeast Asia, andstrengthened the connectivity between ASEAN and the UN through a first-evermeeting on cooperation. With Vietnam’s recent election to the UN Human RightsCouncil for the 2023-2025 term, the UN looks forward to supporting Vietnam inits plans to translate its human rights commitments to actions. The UN welcomesVietnam’s pledges to strengthen human rights in all its dimensions, prioritizegender equality, and better protect the rights of vulnerable groups.
Reporter: What are your comments on the Vietnamese Government’s commitments andefforts in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the highestpriority of leaving no one left behind? Could you share with us the assistancethe UN has provided for Vietnam in realising its set targets in promotingsustainable development and improving people’s lives?
UN Resident Coordinator: Vietnam joined the UN in September 1977, two yearsafter the end of the war in 1975. Over the past 45 years, Vietnam hastransformed from a country reliant on UN assistance, to one strongly contributingto regional and global agenda.
The UN provided support in the political, humanitarian, reconstruction andnormative work during the early days of Vietnam’s membership to the UN. Duringthe Doi Moi reforms in the 1986-1995 period, the UN actively supported Vietnamby providing key economic advice and providing resources amounting to hundredsof millions of US dollars annually. During the turn of the 21st century, theUN’s support to Vietnam focused on poverty reduction, social policies, aidcoordination, state capacity building, and resource mobilisation. Since 2000,the UN shifted its technical assistance for Vietnam to legislative, economicand public administration reforms, as well as the fulfilment of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs), many of which were achieved by Vietnam ahead of 2015.
Post-2015, the UN has continued to support Vietnam in implementing the 2030Agenda for Sustainable Development, through the One Strategic Plan (OSP) of theGovernment of Vietnam and the UN in 2017-2021 and the new One StrategicFramework for Sustainable Development Cooperation between the UN and theGovernment of Vietnam for 2022-2026.
The Cooperation Framework 2022-2026 is a commitment between the United Nationsand the Government of Vietnam to work together, and in partnership with broadersociety (non-governmental organisations, academia, the private sector and otherdevelopment partners). The goal is to contribute towards an increasinglyresilient Vietnam that embraces the wellbeing of all people – particularly themost disadvantaged, an inclusive green economy and people-centred governancesystems, and where people enjoy equal rights and opportunities. At the core ofthe framework is our pledge to leave no one behind and to respond to the needsof the most vulnerable people in Vietnam./.
VNA
