Vietnam's world peace contributions in its 47-year journey of UN membership

A total of 47 years ago, the Vietnamese flag flew in front of the UN Headquarters for the first time, with this event marking the country’s official membership into the UN, the only organisation which plays a role in creating and maintaining global peace.

Although it joined late and was surrounded and embargoed by imperialist powers early on, the country has clearly demonstrated its role, prestige, and position in the international community.

Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, said that with a state which gained independence and reunified after a long war and suffered the greatest sacrifices in the 20th century, the international community expects Vietnam to become further involved in peacekeeping missions.

Immediately after becoming a UN member on September 20, 1977, the nation leveraged the support and endorsement of member countries to secure the adoption of Resolution 32/2 by the UN General Assembly’s 32nd session in 1977, which called on countries and international organisations to provide aid and assistance for the cause of Vietnamese post-war reconstruction.

Co-operation between the nation and the UN over the last 47 years has contributed to safeguarding national interests, particularly in terms of strengthening a peaceful and secure environment conducive to development and boosting deeper international integration, thereby further increasing the nation’s position on the global stage.

In the 2020 to 2021 term, Vietnam was elected with a record high of 192 votes out of 193 countries. After two years of engaging in the activities of the UN Security Council (UNSC), the nation had a very positive voice in terms of solving issues related to world peace and security and fulfilled its role as chair for two months. From January, 2020, and April, 2021, the country proposed and chaired the drafting and approval of two UNSC resolutions and three UNSC Presidential statements.

All of these contributions are recognized and highly appreciated by the international community.

Recent years has seen the Vietnamese actively engage in the UN’s efforts to address matters of regional and international peace and security whilst promoting human rights. The nation also participated in negotiating and signing the 2018 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), becoming the 10th country to ratify the treaty.

In the field of UN peacekeeping, Vietnam deployed 493 military officers to UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Department of Peace Operations at the UN headquarters. It also deployed four Field Hospitals No. 2 at the UN mission in South Sudan and one engineering unit at the UN mission in Abyei, an area of dispute between South Sudan and Sudan. In addition, Vietnam is one of the countries that has the highest female participation rate among countries sending peacekeepers.

The nation has made increasingly substantive contributions to the UN, including upholding the role of the UN and multilateralism; promoting respect for the UN Charter, international law, equal relations, and development co-operation between countries and the nations’ right to self-determination. It has opposed acts of oppression, invasion, and unilateral embargo in international relations; as well as participating in the discussion and adoption of many important UN resolutions and declarations on development co-operation, disarmament, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, anti-terrorism, and human rights protection.

Thanks to its contributions, the country has been elected to many UN agencies in important positions, such as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020 to 2021 term, a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the 2021 to 2023 term, a member of the Postal Operations Council (POC) of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) for the 2022 to 2025 term, and Vice President of UN General Assembly’s 77th session (September 2022 – 2023). Vietnam is now a member of three important UNESCO mechanisms, including the Executive Board in the 2021 to 2025 tenure, the Inter-Governmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the 2021 to 2025 tenure, and the Inter-Governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the 2022 to 2026 tenure. It was also elected to the International Law Commission (ILC) for the 2023 to 2027 tenure, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in the 2023 to 2025 tenure, and the Legal and Technical Commission (LTC) for the 2023 to 2027 term.

Vietnam has so far earned plaudits from the UN and the international community as a successful example in implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and for a country that is determined and committed to realising the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The nation has also been active in promoting initiatives to reform the UN, with it being considered as one of the leading countries in terms of implementing the UN “Delivering as One” initiative to increase the effectiveness of UN operations at the national level.

For all countries, participating in peacekeeping forces is an honour and a responsibility towards world peace and security. For Vietnam, the nation ultimately won independence and unified through one of the longest and most sacrificial wars of the 20th century. Therefore, the international community expects the nation to participate in peacekeeping missions.

“For all countries, participating in peacekeeping forces is an honor and a responsibility towards world peace and security. For Vietnam, we have won independence and unified the country through one of the longest and most sacrificial wars of the 20th century. Therefore, the international community expects Vietnam to participate in peacekeeping missions,” the Vietnamese diplomat said.

In fact, over the past decade, Vietnamese blue beret soldiers have met those expectations. The people and local authorities in countries such as South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and recently the Abei region between Sudan and South Sudan have highly appreciated the service of Vietnamese soldiers, including the doctors and nurses at the Field Hospital in South Sudan. All have shown a very beautiful image of Vietnam and Uncle Ho.

Many countries consider Vietnam to be a role model in the struggle for independence and national unification. Indeed, many countries believe that the Vietnamese people, who endured so much pain and loss during the war, are those who understand the value of peace the most. That is why the international community always welcomes and highly appreciates Vietnamese contributions to maintaining world peace and security. Now they expect the Vietnamese side to make even greater contributions to this cause, Ambassador Quy added.