President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc delivers his statement at the high-level open debate of the UN Security Council on Climate Security on September 23 in New York. — VNA/VNS Photo

Ambassador Đặng Đình Quý, Permanent Representative of Việt Nam to the UN, talks to Vietnam News Agency about Việt Nam's plans at the UN from now until the end of the year as the country will complete its term as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2020-2021 term in the next three months.

Which issues will Việt Nam focus on promoting at the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council from now until the end of the year? 

Việt Nam will continue to complete its term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and fulfill commitments which the country made to the international community when it began joining the council, including issues relating to maintaining international peace and security, considering humanitarian law as the number one in dealing with security threats and conflicts in the region, protecting civilians, protecting women and children and handling post-conflict problems. We will make more contributions to dealing with these issues.

At the same time, the next three months will be full of challenges and new problems, so Việt Nam needs to continue to strive to make its voice heard.

Apart from tasks at the UN Security Council, there are also many works at six committees of the UN General Assembly with around 200-300 meetings, particularly at the first, third and sixth committees which cover issues of Việt Nam's concerns. The first committee deals with issues such as cybersecurity and strategic security; the third committee is allocated agenda items related to social, humanitarian and cultural matters, including human rights; and the sixth committee focuses on strengthening and completing the international legal system, ensuring the implementation of laws to bring common interests for peace and security for all people.

The country will have to be more responsible and contribute more practical contributions in the next three months.

In order to gain expected achievements for these issues, which challenges and difficulties will face Việt Nam?

In the last three months, challenges are not only the quantity of works but also many other issues relating to the making of political decisions. When countries propose resolutions and decisions, we must have our own stance on how to vote on major issues. These will be tough decisions because in the current context, the world is less united and cooperated in dealing with global challenges. Each country has different concerns so we can see that the situation is more difficult now than the time when the COVID-19 pandemic just started. Building concensus to achieve specific results at the UN Security Council and at the UN General Assembly in the next three months will be very difficult.

Which issues received the highest consensus of countries at the recent UN General Assembly session and which issues still need more discussions in the future? 

Most speeches of leaders of countries and heads of delegations focused on two main issues: COVID-19 and post COVID-19 recovery. Besides, countries focused discussions on other issues such as climate change adaptation, reforms of the UN and dealing with challenges relating to peace and security.

How have countries at the UN assessed the participation of President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at the high-level general debate of the UN General Assembly as well as his message at the debate? 

The President’s presence at the debate made a very special impression. The theme throughout all four discussion sessions attended by the President was the image of a Việt Nam with strong aspirations, wishing to contribute more responsibly to regional and global affairs. This is the reason why countries highly appreciated Việt Nam, expecting the country to contribute not only in terms of policy and understanding but also resources to regional and global affairs.

How do you assess the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly which was held both in face-to-face and online forms for the first time in 75 years of its history?

The organisation of the session in both face-to-face and online forms reflected the UN’s flexibility and adaptability amid complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating conditions for most leaders at the highest level of countries to attend with the participation of around 110 leaders, including in-person attendance of 70 delegations. 

The main message that countries focused on at the high-level general debate and 76th session of the UN General Assembly was to strive for post-pandemic recovery, improve resilience to recover from the pandemic in a sustainable manner, meet the requirements of the planet, respect the people, and give a new lease of life to the UN, he concluded. —VNS