New York (VNA) –Vietnam, Russia, and South Africa, three members of the UN Security Council,jointly held an event on December 17 to mark the 60th anniversary of the UNDeclaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples,also known as the Declaration on Decolonialisation.

The meeting, organised on the sidelines of theUN General Assembly, saw the presence of ambassadors and chargé d’affaires ofnearly 100 missions of UN member states. It was co-chaired by Ambassador DangDinh Quy, head of the Vietnamese mission to the UN, the Chargé d’affaires atthe Russian mission, and the deputy head of the South African mission.

UN member states highlighted the significance ofthe Declaration on Decolonialisation, adopted by the UN General Assembly inResolution 1514 in 1960, saying this declaration remains one of the mostimportant documents of the UN to present.

They held that since its adoption, thedeclaration has been a source of strong support for colonial territories’struggle and aspiration for independence and an end to colonialism, resultingin the liberation of more than 750 million people in over 80 former colonialcountries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania.

However, the member states also shared the viewthat had been noted at recent UN meetings that the decolonisation process hasyet to complete and still has many shortcomings. In particular, there remain 17non-self-governing territories with nearly 2 million people yet to be able topractise self-determination.

They re-affirmed the commitment to continueimplementing the Declaration on Decolonialisation and promote thedecolonialisation process via cooperation with relevant UN agencies.

Ambassador Quy spoke of the difficulties facingVietnam and its substantial efforts during the fight for national liberationand independence, stressing the connection between the Vietnamese people’sstruggle and those of other peoples around the world and the UN.

He also told the story about Nguyen Ai Quoc, whowas later President Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam, sending a document detailing theclaims of the Annamite people to the Versailles conference in 1919, wherecolonialist powers discussed colonial issues, and writing a letter to thePresident of the first session of the UN General Assembly in 1946 to expressVietnam’s wish to join the UN.

Quy emphasised that Vietnam’s path to nationalindependence and reunification was associated with the struggles of manycountries around the world, especially in Africa, noting it received strongspiritual support from many nations and international friends during thisfight.

The diplomat affirmed the importance of thedecolonialisation process and the exercise of countries and peoples’ right toself-determination in line with the Declaration on Decolonialisation, the UNCharter, and related resolutions.

He called on countries to enhance cooperationwith relevant UN agencies to step up decolonialisation and declarationimplementation in the spirit of solidarity and mutual support./.