Vietnam has begun the presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in January 2020 which is rotated among its members monthly.

Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnam Mission to the United Nations makes remarks at the meeting. Photo: United Nations

On January 2, the Vietnamese delegation led by Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of the Vietnam Mission to the United Nations, attended a Flag Installation ceremony for the newly-elected non-permanent members to serve on the UNSC for the term 2020-2021.

Dang Dinh Quy, together with representatives of Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tunisia, made remarks at the ceremony. He said: “We promise to do our best to fulfil our commitments to the UNSC to uphold the UN Charter, to uphold the multilateralism.”

On January 2, the UNSC approved Vietnam-proposed agenda for January 2020. Accordingly, the council will hold 12 public meetings and 15 closed-door meetings discussing regional and international situation, including that in the Middle East, Syria, Yemen, West Africa, Sahel, Mali, Libya, Central Asia, and the Republic of Cyprus.

In addition, the UN’s organizations will have other meetings on sanctions, anti-terrorism, courts, children, and armed conflicts in January.

The two most important issues of the month include promoting the implementation of the United Nations Charter and the cooperation between the UN and ASEAN.

Vietnam got support from all UNSC members in organizing an open workshop on January 9 on promoting the implementation of the UN Charter and a meeting on January 23 on the cooperation between the UN and ASEAN in maintaining peace and security.

On the same day, the Vietnamese ambassador chaired a press conference themed Security Council’s Program of Work in January 2020 with the participation of 70 foreign reporters.

This is the second time Vietnam becomes a non-permanent UNSC member, following the first time in the 2008-2009 term.

The UNSC is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its United Nations Charter.

Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions; it is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.