Hanoi (VNA) – As President of the United NationsSecurity Council in April 2021, Vietnam will organise a high-level open debateon the role of regional organisations in promoting confidence-building anddialogue in conflict prevention and resolution on April 19 via both in-personand online forms.

The event will be presided over by State President NguyenXuan Phuc, marking the first time a high-ranking leader of Vietnam has chairedan event within the framework of the UN Security Council. This is also thefirst important multilateral diplomatic event of the Vietnamese President sincethe 13th National Party Congress.


Building trust and dialogue

Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Hoang Giang said that Vietnam has presided overthe making of, and actively consulted to pass the Statement of the UN SecurityCouncil President.

The Statement will affirm the importance of cooperationbetween the United Nations, its Security Council and regional organisations inconflict prevention and settlement through peaceful measures, on the basis ofrespecting basic principles of international law and the UN Charter, and underlined confidence-building and dialogue measures as essential elements to contributeto conflict prevention and settlement.

The Statement will call for efforts to strengthencooperation between the UN, its Security Council and regional organisations as wellas between regional organisations in conflict prevention and settlement towardsthe building of sustainable peace, while encouraging the UN and theinternational community to support the improvement of capacity of regionalorganisations in conflict prevention and settlement, post-conflict reconstruction,and peace maintenance.

“The role of regional organisations in promoting trustbuilding and dialogue in conflict prevention” is the most important andinclusive theme of the UN Security Council which is the UN’s main body in theprevention of wars and conflicts and maintenance of international peace andsecurity, Giang said, adding that as a member of many important regionalmechanisms, especially ASEAN, Vietnam wants regional organisations to furtherpromote their roles, improve their images and share responsibility with the UNin preventing and solving conflicts in the region, for the stability andprosperity of the region and the world.

Do Hung Viet, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Department ofInternational Organisations, emphasised that when building priorities for theworking term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021,Vietnam determined to promote the role of regional organisations in cooperationwith the UN Security Council in particular and the UN in general.

The upcoming high-level open debate will elevate Vietnam’sinitiatives to contribute to maintaining international peace and security. Throughthis event, Vietnam wants to affirm its commitment and efforts to addressglobal challenges facing the international community, Viet added.

In particular, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s presiding overthe event is the affirmation at the highest level about Vietnam’s foreignpolicy of independence, self-reliance, diversification, multilateralism, and proactiveand active international integration during its new stage of development.

Intensifying ASEAN’s role

According to Viet, as a member of ASEAN, Vietnam wants ASEANto have an increasing voice, position and role in matters directly related tothe region as well as enhancing the bloc's presence as a regional organisation at theUN.

Through this event, Vietnam will contribute to drawing the attention of the international community and the United Nations tocooperation with ASEAN, and strengthening the bloc’s role at internationalforums and institutions in the coming time.

The open debate will be also an opportunity for leaders ofthe UN and regional organisations such as ASEAN, the European Union (EU), theAfrican Union (AU), as well as the UN Security Council member states to assertthe important role of regional organisations, share experience of each regionalorganisation in dealing with difficulties and challenges in their respectiveregions.

Vietnam expects this to be the start of a longer process atthe UN Security Council on issues related to regional organisations and theirrole in promoting trust building and dialogue in conflict prevention, thuscontributing to the UN’s joint efforts to maintain peace, security and developmentin the world./.