Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc (front, right) at the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference, held in Paris from November 11 to 22. (Photo: VNA)Vietnam was elected to the post atthe 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference, which is takingplace in Paris from November 11 to 22. This is the first time the country hasheld this position at one of the two most important governing bodies of UNESCO,Ngoc, who is also Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, told theVietnam News Agency.
He said the election holds importancein many aspects as it affirms the country’s stature and prestige in the worldas well as the international community’s trust in its contributions andchairmanship capacity at global multilateral forums.
As the representative of the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific, which has a largenumber of members with varying development levels, politics, cultures, sizes,interests, and priorities, Vietnam will continue bringing into play the softpower from its national prestige and the capacity of grasping common concerns, harmonisinginterest differences among members, negotiating, chairing, leading, and proposinginitiatives to build consensus and seek appropriate solutions to urgent issuesof the Asia-Pacific and UNESCO, Ngoc said.
The country will actively join in theshaping of the UNESCO cooperation in issues of shared concern, he noted,elaborating that it will propose policies and promote UNESCO’s leading role inmultilateral cooperation in education - training, culture, science - technology,and information - communications to maintain peace, respond to globalchallenges, and assist countries to augment efforts to realise the SustainableDevelopment Goals.
Besides, it will contribute to theimplementation of UNESCO’s focal programmes such as the Medium-Term Strategyfor 2022 - 2029, the programme and budget for 2024 - 2025, Open Science, the ethicsof artificial intelligence, education for sustainable development, the preservationand promotion of cultural heritage values, climate change response, and thereform of UNESCO to enhance the organisation’s democracy and transparency,according to the Deputy Minister.
He noted that Vietnam’s active andresponsible contributions to promoting dialogue, cooperation, consensus, andappropriate solutions to issues of shared concern amid the highly complicatedinternational situation have been welcomed by UNESCO leaders and countries.
That has not only affirmed thepioneering role of Vietnam’s diplomacy but also demonstrated the country’s softpower and stature, he remarked.
Over 47 years of cooperation, Ngoc added,Vietnam has continually been assessed as a dynamic and responsible member byUNESCO leaders, and described by the UNESCO Director-General as a modelof effective cooperation with this organisation.
In particular, since the historicvisits by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to the UNESCO headquarters in November2021 and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay to Vietnam in September 2022,and with the implementation of the two sides’ memorandum of understanding oncooperation for 2021 - 2025, the bilateral partnership has been lifted to a newlevel that is more substantive and effective, he said.
The official noted that for the firsttime, Vietnam has concurrently held positions at four governing mechanisms ofUNESCO, namely Vice President of the General Conference, Vice Chair of theIntergovernmental Committee of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotionof the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, member of the Executive Board, andmember of the Intergovernmental Committee of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguardingof the Intangible Cultural Heritage, reflecting the international community’strust in Vietnam’s contribution and chairmanship capacity at the multilateralorganisation.
The high-level contributions to theshaping of strategic issues and global policies are another success of Vietnamat UNESCO as seen in its ministers’ participation in international events ofUNESCO.
Vietnam has also successfullyorganised many important international activities such as the celebration ofthe 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention which was alsoattended by the UNESCO Director-General, the conference on science, ethics andhuman development, and the conference on volcano speleology and global geoparksin 2022; the ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the 2003Convention in 2023, and especially the international conference on harnessingUNESCO designations for sustainable development in Vietnam last July – the firston this topic held so far.
Inaddition, Vietnam has received the UNESCO recognition for 12 titles andheritage elements since 2021, including documentary, tangible and intangiblecultural heritage, two world biosphere reserves, two global creative cities, oneglobal learning city, and two world figures of culture.
The recognitionhas not only shown the international community’s high evaluation of the country’sheritage and cultural values, its people’s wisdom and virtues, and itscontributions to UNESCO efforts in preserving heritage and cultural values andboosting sustainable and inclusive development, but also created more momentumfor domestic socio-economic development, according to Deputy Minister Ngoc./.
VNA
