Successful premiere as UNSC chair

During its UNSC chairmanship, Vietnam successfully held many meetings on UN issues

In the month, Vietnam successfully hosted nearly 30 official activities and passed through 13 decisions, the highest number of decisions in a working month of the UN Security Council (UNSC). The country also implemented historic initiatives, including the first meeting on co-operation between the UN and the ASEAN, and an open discussion on promoting UN Charter compliance, lasting three consecutive days, and featuring over 100 speeches. For the first time, the council also released a statement on the UN Charter.

“There was many open discussion about the UN Charter and adherence to the charter, and it had never been a statement released by the president previously. It shows the importance and success of the open discussion,” said Pham Binh Minh, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, sharing satisfaction about the month and actions that Vietnam made in the role of UNSC chair, Dang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnam’s Permanent Mission to the UN said, “There were two things I felt proud of. First, we have taken full advantage of the role of chair in the first month to hold an open discussion with a record number of participants while the UN celebrates its 75th anniversary. Secondly, we operated and responded very quickly to urgent issues.”

Expressing high appreciation of the contribution from Vietnam, many delegates said the country built a reasonable agenda and handled complicated issues in a flexible manner. Many recognised Vietnam’s efforts to regularly provide information on the council’s work to non-member countries, non-governmental organisations, and the media.

Deputy Head of the Standing Mission of France at the UN, Anne Gueguen said, “Entering a new decade with many issues, Vietnam took clever and effective steps. The Security Council has passed important decisions related to millions of people around the world such as extending the humanitarian programmes in Syria, and held discussions under the Vietnamese chair on ways to reduce tensions in the Middle East.”

Meanwhile, Dian Triansyah Djani, Head of the Indonesian Permanent Mission at the UNSC, emphasised that Vietnam did a great job in its tenure, particularly when the country raised the issue of UN-ASEAN co-operation. “The effective partnership between the UN and regional organisations is vital,” Djani said. “When we are together at the council, we will do better for the whole region.”

According to Le Hoai Trung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, being a non-permanent member of the UNSC is a special chance for Vietnam to promote its national benefits, and strengthen its role in the international community and its relationship with major countries. “If we carry out this role well, with good handling to issues related to other countries, Vietnam’s bilateral relationship with partners will be developed,” he said.

Normally, it takes several months for a non-permanent member of the UNSC to become chair but Vietnam did so on its first month in the role. In the context of increasingly complicated competition for influence and relations between major countries, along with non-traditional security challenges including terrorism and transnational crimes, Vietnam has comprehensively persuaded the international community about its capability in handling wide issues on an international level.

This will be used as a firm basis for Vietnam to further contribute to the UNSC as the chair of the council in April 2021, as well as the being chair of the ASEAN this year.