Hanoi (VNA) – The visit to Vietnam by UnitedNations Secretary-General António Guterres from October 21 – 22 is expected tocontribute to expanding and improving the efficiency of cooperation between thetwo sides.

The visit, as affirmed by the UN Secretary General, demonstratesthe importance the UN attaches to its partnership with Vietnam over the past 45years, and that Vietnam is an indispensable member of the UN, which has been significantlycontributing to UN efforts in addressing global challenges, for peace anddevelopment in the world.

Guterres also stressed that Vietnam has always been astrong partner of the UN since its admission in 1977.

Only four days after the first session of the UNGeneral Assembly on January 14, 1946, President Ho Chi Minh filed a dossier,seeking the UN membership for Vietnam. The Southeast Asian nation officially joinedthe UN 31 years later.

On September 21, 1977, the New York Times ran anarticle titled “Vietnam is admitted to the UN as 32nd GeneralAssembly opens,” saying “the resounding applause that rang through the AssemblyHall and the chorus of speeches that followed, all were felt to be a reflectionof the sentiment of the overwhelming majority of members that Vietnam was owedspecial recognition on this day, in part because its entry was overdue.”

The UN membership helped Vietnam receive support innational reconstruction and win recognition as a unified, independent andpeaceful nation.

The 32nd General Assembly also adoptedResolution 32/2 calling on countries and international organisations to assistVietnam in post-war reconstruction. Although Vietnam officially joined the UN in1977, a number of international organisations had provided aid for the countrysince 1975.

Thanks to the support of UN agencies and organisations,Vietnam has utilised external resources, together with its internal resources,to transform from a poor, backward country after wars to become a middle-incomenation, towards a developing one with modern industry and upper middle incomeby 2030, and high-income developed country by 2045.

Over the past 45 years, the relationship betweenVietnam and the UN has become an example of development cooperation, which hasbeen recognised and commended by the international community.

Vietnam has approved country programmes with the UNDevelopment Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UNChildren’s Fund (UNICEF) for 2022-2026, and the Vietnam-UN cooperationframework for sustainable development for the same period.

Under the framework, the UN will help the VietnameseGovernment implement the socio-economic development plan for 2021-2025 and SustainableDevelopment Goals.

It covers inclusive social development, climate changeresponse, disaster resilience and environmental sustainability, sharedprosperity through economic transformation, and governance and access tojustice.

Its total funding amounts to over 542 million USD, withmore than 293 million USD available and some 248 million USD to be mobilised.

At the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference ofthe Parties (COP26) in the UK last year, Vietnam fully participated inimportant multilateral initiatives. Notably, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhmade commitments to net carbon emissions by 2050, and joined the Global MethanePledge, the Glasgow Declaration on forests and land use, the Global Coal to CleanPower Transition Statement, and the Adaptation Action Coalition.

During the COVID-19 pandemic combat, Vietnamreceived more than 61.7 million doses of vaccines through the UN-backed COVAXFacility, and medical equipment valued at 45 million USD from UN organisations.

UN organisations in Vietnam, especially the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO), have supported Vietnam in public health emergencypreparedness, risk surveillance and assessment, disease investigation andresponse, laboratory, infection control and prevention, clinical management, andrisk communication.

For its part, Vietnam has continued to join UN effortsin addressing issues regarding regional and international peace and security,and human rights. The country actively engaged in the negotiations and signingof The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2018, and was the 10th country to ratify the treaty.

Vietnam has also dispatched 493 officers to UN peacekeepingmissions in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Department ofPeace Operations at the UN headquarters.

The country has deployed four rotations of Level-2 FieldHospital to South Sudan and an engineering unit to Abyei. Vietnam is one of thecountries sending the most female officers to the UN peacekeeping missions.

Vietnam was elected as a non-permanent member of theUN Security Council for 2020-2021, securing 192 out of 193 votes, and outstandinglyperformed the role in this position.

The country has worked to promote ASEAN’s role in thecouncil’s activities, actively cooperated with UN mechanisms on humanrights, and launched reports on the implementation of the Universal PeriodicReview (UPR) as well as international conventions on human rights to which itis a member.

Vietnam has assumed different important positions in UN agencies, including the Postal Operations Council (POC) ofthe Universal Postal Union (UPU) for 2022-2025, and the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors for 2021-2023, among others. Most recently,Vietnam was elected to the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 tenure onOctober 11 at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. 

In the pandemic combat, Vietnam proposed designatingDecember 27 as International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, which was approvedby the UN General Assembly. It also contributed 50,000 USD to the UN COVID-19Response Fund and is preparing to voluntarily contribute additional 500,000 USDto COVAX. The country has been a venue for patient reception and treatment underthe MEDEVAC mechanism.

In the context of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Vietnam donated 500,000 USD in support of humanitarian aid activities targetingcivilians affected by the conflict, including 100,000 USD for the UN CentralEmergency Response Fund, 100,000 USD for the WHO, 100,000 USD for UNICEF, and200,000 USD of the Vietnam Red Cross for its Ukraine counterpart.

It can be said that the cooperation between Vietnamand the UN is developing fruitfully, meeting Vietnam’s demand and intereststhrough different periods and contributing to enhancing the country’s role,voice and hallmark at the UN./.