A year ago on October 21, 2015, Vietnam was elected to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – one of the six major UN agencies that deals with international socio-economic, cultural, educational, health and humanitarian issues.

The election reflected recognition of Vietnam’s achievements in national construction and development, as well as its contributions to the UN in building a better world.

As one of 54 ECOSOC members, Vietnam is well-positioned to make extensive contributions to shaping the common rules of the world through raising responsible voices, land building ECOSOS policies and action plans. Over the past three years, Vietnam has contributed to the implementation of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development until 2030.

2016 marks the first year of the UN Agenda 2030 with new goals that require renewing development mindset, resources and management apparatus. Therefore, the ECOSOS’s key task is to identify difficulties and challenges during the process. Vietnam has joined UN seminars and discussions to learn from experience and determine which fields should be given priority and which resources to rally.

This year, two high-ranking Vietnamese delegations attended ECOSOS meetings.

At the ECOSOS high-level meeting in July, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh underscored Vietnam’s commitment to making positive contributions to the council’s activities and accelerating the implementation of the Agenda on Sustainable Development 2030.

Also, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong attended a high-level dialogue on policy incorporation in May, during which, he shared Vietnam’s experience in reducing poverty, building e-government, refining social welfare, and ensuring workers’ interests.

On behalf of ASEAN member states, he highlighted the importance of collaboration to build regional-level policies for the implementation of the Agenda 2030, including dealing with common challenges such as climate change, environment pollution and epidemics.

Head of the Permanent Vietnam Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, hailed Vietnam’s experience sharing and recommendations for the effective implementation of the agenda, which she said, has also been welcomed by the international community.

According to her, Vietnam has helped improve the efficiency of the UN apparatus towards building a new cooperation model among member states, offered recommendations to urge developed nations to assist developing ones in capital and technology transfer, joined in fine-tuning indexes to monitor countries’ fulfillment of sustainable development goals, as well as giving feedback on new development models such as the public-private partnership and south-south cooperation.

With such achievements, Vietnam has worked with the UN to assist poor and landlocked countries, towards building a planet with no one left behind.

VNA