Vietnam is always a responsible country towards the international community.

Over the past 40 years, Vietnam has made many positive contributions with many initiatives to the activities of the United Nations (UN), demonstrating its responsibility to the international community. Actively and proactively participating in the largest organization on the planet is also a way for Vietnam to strengthen international cooperation to serve national development.

Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga - Head of the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam to the United Nations in New York, USA.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Vietnam joining the United Nations (September 20, 1977 - September 20, 2017), VOV's resident correspondent in the US interviewed Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Delegation to the United Nations in New York, USA.

PV:Over the past 40 years, Vietnam has been an active member of the UN, so what significant contributions have we made to the activities of the largest multilateral forum on the planet, Ambassador?

Ambassador Phuong Nga:It can be said that Vietnam has actively contributed to the common work of the United Nations even before we were admitted to this organization. Vietnam's struggle for national liberation and reunification has been a huge contribution to the realization of the noble goals of the United Nations, especially the goals of independence, freedom and liberation of oppressed peoples and decolonization.

Even our nation-building efforts have been a very positive contribution to the common work of the UN in realizing development and human rights goals. Since then, over the past 40 years, Vietnam has participated deeply and on many levels, assuming very important positions in the UN system and actively operating in all three pillars of the UN.

In the field of peace and security, we always protect and promote the need to comply with the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law, especially the principles of sovereign equality, respect for independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of countries, settlement of disputes by peaceful means, and non-use or threat of use of force.

We have also made many positive and proactive contributions to the field of disarmament and non-proliferation, especially nuclear disarmament and other weapons of mass destruction. Since June 2014, Vietnam has begun sending forces to participate in UN peacekeeping operations and is actively completing preparations to be able to soon deploy an additional level 2 field hospital.

We have fulfilled our role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2008-2009 term very well and have actively participated in efforts to prevent crises and maintain peace, making very important proposals on protecting women and children, promoting human rights in conflict and building post-conflict peace, as well as reforming the working methods of the Security Council.

We are currently campaigning for the 2020-2021 term of the Security Council. Particularly in the field of development, Vietnam is a typical example of successful cooperation between the UN and a member country. With Vietnam's development and the very effective cooperation of the UN, Vietnam has successfully achieved most of the Millennium Development Goals and we are also very active in promoting South-South cooperation through proactively building models and participating in tripartite cooperation projects between Vietnam and a developing country and the UN.

In particular, we and the UN have successfully piloted the Delivering as One Initiative, building a common green UN house in Hanoi, contributing to improving operational efficiency and strengthening the system cohesion of UN organizations in Vietnam.

We also actively participate in negotiation processes to develop international law, build frameworks to expand cooperation, strengthen a peaceful and stable environment and protect the interests of developing countries.

In the field of human rights, Vietnam, in addition to seriously fulfilling its national obligations, demonstrated by successfully defending two periodic review reports, was also elected to the Human Rights Council for the 2014-2016 term and actively participated in efforts to promote human rights around the world, proposed and had a resolution on the impact of climate change on children's rights adopted and participated in many other initiatives to protect the rights and promote the rights of vulnerable groups, especially people with disabilities, women, girls, and the elderly. It can be said that the UN and its member countries have very positive appreciation for Vietnam's contributions.
PV: In the context of the complicated world situation, the UN is facing unprecedented challenges. So, according to the Ambassador, what are the difficulties and advantages for Vietnam when operating at the UN?

Ambassador Phuong Nga: It is true that the current world situation is posing very new problems, not only for Vietnam but also for many other member countries. For us, the great advantage today is that the general trend in the world is still peace and cooperation.

The adoption and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by UN member states and a series of other important agreements have also demonstrated the desire and determination of the international community to join hands in responding to common challenges, towards peace and sustainable development.

Right in this 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, we can witness the efforts of UN member states to join hands to respond to the challenges that the international community is facing. The second great advantage is that along with the country's achievements in all aspects with our consistent foreign policy of peace, independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralization of international relations, proactive and active international integration, Vietnam is continuing to affirm its position and prestige in the world. International friends respect and trust Vietnam's voice.

We have advantages to strengthen relations with organizations in the UN system, expand bilateral and multilateral relations with countries and international organizations. In addition, another factor of great significance is that Vietnam is a member of ASEAN, a regional association that is considered successful and is promoting a positive common voice at UN forums.

Along with such advantages, we also face many difficulties. First of all, the world situation is changing very rapidly and unpredictably, multilateralism and international law are facing many challenges. Nationalism, extremism, violence and protectionism are on the rise. The grouping of forces at the UN is very flexible and interests are complexly intertwined.

The big challenge for us is to assess and evaluate the situation, determine policies to handle and resolve each issue promptly and correctly, ensuring national and ethnic interests, while strengthening relations with partners while still actively contributing to peace and development in the world.

The second challenge is that in the context of increasingly scarce international financial resources, development cooperation between Vietnam and the UN and donor countries has also shifted to a new form of cooperation, namely partnership. Vietnam is no longer a priority recipient of development assistance as before. This reality requires us to renew our thinking, further promote the spirit of self-reliance, self-reliance, and combine the mobilization of domestic resources with creativity, flexibility and dynamism in searching for and mobilizing new resources, new forms of cooperation, effective and mutually beneficial.

Another major challenge is that implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals requires not only resources but also implementation measures, very close and effective coordination between ministries, sectors, localities, between the country and the outside, and truly deep international integration. The situation is changing very quickly, cooperation is also very fast, so if we are not quick, sensitive, and timely, we will be left behind. Time is very short, so we need to quickly and actively implement the national action plan and implement the 2030 Agenda.

PVAs the head of Vietnam's representative office at the UN, what are your expectations for Vietnam's activities at this organization next year?

Ambassador Phuong Nga: Our expectations for our activities at the UN are very high. In the immediate future, we are striving to fulfill our duties as a member of the Economic and Social Council ECOSOC, together with UN member states and ECOSOC, to contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the national, regional and global levels.

We are also actively implementing the 2017-2021 cooperation program between Vietnam and the United Nations. If we successfully implement this program, it will also contribute to meeting Vietnam's needs for national development, enhancing the prestige and role of both Vietnam and the United Nations.

Next July, we must also prepare well to successfully defend the national voluntary review report on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. We are also a responsible member of the United Nations, we need to continue to be more proactive in actively participating in the common work of the United Nations, including implementing the commitment to participate in UN peacekeeping operations, as well as the common work of the United Nations on climate change response, green growth and in reforming and improving the efficiency of the UN system.

One of our major goals in the immediate future is to focus our efforts on successfully running for the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term to continue promoting Vietnam's role and enhancing its position in the international arena.

I would also like to add that we are implementing the policy of the 12th Party Congress, actively participating in multilateral mechanisms, especially ASEAN and the United Nations. We hope to effectively implement these goals and policies, and Vietnam's role at the United Nations as well as at other multilateral forums depends mainly on our actions to turn our commitments into reality.

PV:Thank you very much Ambassador!./.

According to VOV