Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the UN, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva, made the statement during a recent working session with Amy Pope, general director of the IOM.

The  Ambassador highlighted that Vietnamese ministries, sectors, and branches have all prioritised and worked together as a means of ensuring a multi-sectoral approach in handling migration challenges.

She pointed to several co-operation fields, such as protecting rights for migrant workers, ensuring health and medical access for migrants, and improving locals’ ability to adapt and respond to climate change.

The country has proactively engaged in international collaboration mechanisms on migration within the framework of ASEAN, ASEM, and APEC, she added.

Welcoming Vietnamese efforts and achievements in migration and the implementation of the GCM, Pope added that enhancing migrants’ response and resilience to climate change and natural disasters will be a top priority of IOM’s activities moving forward.

The nation and the IOM also hold great potential to boost ties through international mechanisms, especially those on migrant workers, the settlement of migration challenges in tandem with the realisation of development goals, and the improvement of climate change response capacity, she said.

Pope assumed the post of the general director of the IMO in October 1, thereby becoming the first woman to lead the UN migration agency.

Her priorities include promoting the participation of member states and the private sectors in response to migration challenges, encouraging rational policies for member states, capitalising on the IOM’s database, and continuing to reform the IOM’s budget programmes.