PARIS – Việt Nam has become a member of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) for 2021-25, with 163 votes out of the 178 members, or 92 per cent, during the 41st session of the General Conference of UNESCO held on November 17 in Paris, France.
This is the fifth time Việt Nam has been elected to be a member of the UNESCO Executive Board.
Secretary-General of the Việt Nam National Commission for UNESCO Mai Phan Dũng, who led the Vietnamese delegation at the 41st session, said Việt Nam becoming a member of the Executive Board demonstrates the country’s rising position and prestige in the international arena and recognition of the international community for its contributions to relations with UNESCO.
This is the result of Việt Nam’s policy of multilateralism, diversification and comprehensive and extensive international integration, as well as the outcome of the concerted implementation of the election campaign in the past years, he continued.
Việt Nam’s membership on the UNESCO Executive Board offers good opportunities for Việt Nam to show ‘dual responsibility’ in protecting national interests, capitalising on UNESCO’s ideas and initiatives to serve national construction and development in a sustainable, concerted and comprehensive manner.
At the same time, Việt Nam will have chances to contribute to international issues that UNESCO is paying attention to.
Dũng said that in this tenure, Việt Nam will actively engage in major programmes and orientations of UNESCO across five expertise, together with affirming the role and prestige of Việt Nam at UNESCO in particular and the international arena at large, thereby successfully realising the Resolution adopted at the 13th National Party Congress, the Politburo’s Resolution No.22-NQ/TW on international integration and Directive No. 25-CT/TW on promoting and enhancing the role of multilateral diplomacy until 2030 issued by the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat.
Việt Nam was a member of the UNESCO Executive Board for the 1978-83, 2001-05, 2009-13 and 2015-19 terms.
The Executive Board consists of 58 member states with a four-year term of office. It ensures the overall management of UNESCO and prepares the work of the General Conference and sees that its decisions are properly carried out. VNS