80 Years of the United Nations: From Past to Future

General Secretary and President To Lam speaks at the High-level General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2024. (Source: VNA)

Over nearly eight decades of formation and development, the UN has gradually affirmed its central and indispensable role in the international system and multilateralism. Faced with today's intertwined challenges and opportunities, more than ever, the UN needs to continue to reposition its role and mission to strengthen cooperation and build a sustainable future.

80 years of building and consolidating the foundation of modern multilateralism and international cooperation

Born in 1945 after the pain and loss of World War II, the UN is an expression of the aspiration for peace for all mankind and has become a bridge between different cultures, values ​​and interests. In Article 1 of the UN Charter, countries recognize the central role of the UN in harmonizing efforts to achieve the common goals of maintaining international peace and security, promoting friendly relations among nations on the basis of respect for independence, sovereign equality of nations and fundamental human rights and freedoms.

On that basis, the international system based on law is formed, setting important standards and measures, creating the foundation and promoting common awareness of peace and cooperation in international relations.

Since then, although the international context has gone through many periods of change, from the tense situation in the second half of the 20th century to the globalization process that brought a new look to the world since the beginning of the 21st century, the UN has achieved many successes in promoting breakthroughs and development, expanding the global governance system. In the field of peace and security, the UN has a special role in preventing a new world war.

The UN's mark is not only in preventing and resolving many conflicts and managing crises, especially during the Cold War, but also in deploying nearly 70 Peacekeeping Missions (PMOs) in many regions, effectively contributing to restoring peace, ending conflicts and post-conflict reconstruction in many countries such as Cyprus, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, etc.

In the field of development, since the 1960s, UN mechanisms have studied and discovered the development trends of the world economy and their impacts on social life, on that basis, promoting the construction and mobilization of resources to implement global agendas, including the Millennium Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With a system of programs and specialized organizations in many countries (such as UNICEF, FAO, UNDP, WHO, etc.), the UN is at the forefront of promoting cooperation and supporting development, not only in economic growth, but also in building and implementing policies on hunger eradication and poverty reduction, gender equality, health, environment, population, etc.

In protecting and promoting human rights, the UN plays an important role in developing values, common awareness of human rights, promoting dialogue and cooperation among countries in protecting and promoting human rights. Since 1948, the UN General Assembly has adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, creating the foundation for building legal frameworks on human rights over the past decades, in which the Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Civil and Political Rights, Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Anti-Torture... are central documents.

Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet speaks at the ceremony announcing Vietnam's re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 term.

The United Nations in a Changing World

Today, the world is both similar and fundamentally different from that of eight decades ago. Increasing geopolitical tensions, the resurgence of populism, extreme nationalism, and the use of force in international relations, along with increasingly severe global challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, and pandemics, are posing challenges beyond the control of any single country.

Along with that, the emergence and formation of new trends and processes such as digital transformation, green transformation, industrial revolution 4.0... opens up many opportunities, but also poses challenges and raises the need to strengthen global governance in these areas.

The global governance system has also undergone important changes. The development of new economies and the need to strengthen links between countries have led to the emergence of a series of regional and sub-regional mechanisms and new groups of forces such as G77, G20, APEC, BRICS, SCO, etc. representing different interest groups and needs in governance and regulation of international relations. Therefore, the UN has to partly “share” its role in shaping multilateral cooperation for multilateral, sub-multilateral and regional mechanisms and frameworks, especially in areas such as investment, finance or new areas where governance gaps still exist.

However, with its foundation and system of values ​​that have been cultivated and continuously strengthened over the past 80 years, the UN remains the largest, oldest, most successful and most influential international organization to date, and no other mechanism or organization can replace it. On the other hand, the UN is faced with the need to promote its role and values.

Firstly, it is necessary to continue to nurture and strengthen the common values, principles and purposes of the UN Charter – thereby continuing to shape multilateralism as a fundamental principle in international life.

Second, the UN needs to reform both its governance thinking and its institutions to improve the effectiveness of enhancing democracy and better meet the needs of countries, especially developing countries.

Third, the UN needs to promote its special role as a "crossroads" connecting ideas and action efforts in the global governance network, especially in areas that shape global development such as artificial intelligence, digital transformation, green transformation, etc.

Deputy Foreign Minister Do Hung Viet. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

Vietnam - a companion on the UN's development journey

On September 20, 1977, Vietnam officially joined the United Nations, becoming the 149th member of the world's largest multilateral organization. The importance of the United Nations and multilateralism in our foreign policy has been affirmed very early. As early as 1946, President Ho Chi Minh sent a letter proposing Vietnam's admission as a member of the United Nations, demonstrating Vietnam's strategic vision and aspiration to position itself in the common flow of humanity.

Throughout the journey of building, defending the Fatherland and developing the country, Vietnam - UN cooperation has had an important transformation. From the period when our country emerged from the war with serious consequences, a poor and backward economy, to the period of siege and embargo, our participation in the UN and the support of UN organizations in Vietnam have created leverage and provided important initial resources to gradually restore production, carry out the Doi Moi process and open the door for Vietnam to expand and integrate internationally.

To date, Vietnam has been present and left its mark in all areas of UN activities. Not only holding many important positions at the UN, Vietnam has made many specific contributions in forming and building cooperation mechanisms, common laws and standards, and putting forward new initiatives, such as in promoting gender equality, children's rights, disease prevention, ensuring human rights against the impacts of climate change, maritime security, etc., as well as piloting initiatives to reform the UN development system.

For the first time, we have contributed resources and human resources to the UN. After more than 10 years of participating in UN peacekeeping activities, we have sent nearly 1,000 officers, cadres, soldiers, and police to perform peacekeeping duties in many regions of the world, while simultaneously deploying humanitarian assistance to people in countries in crisis through UN mechanisms. It can be said that Vietnam has “repositioned” itself in the UN and the multilateral system. From an aid recipient, we have become a development partner and a member with substantial and positive contributions to the common work of the UN.

Currently, Vietnam in particular and the international community in general are facing opportunities for transformation, but still have to deal with many challenges. The UN is not only a bridge to help us mobilize ideas and necessary resources for development in the context of the country accelerating, entering a new era - the era of rising up; but we ourselves have a more solid foundation in terms of position, capacity and potential to make more practical and pioneering contributions, meeting the expectations of the international community.

Therefore, multilateral diplomacy needs to be vigorously implemented at all levels, in all sectors and in all areas where we have strengths, in line with the policy of the 13th National Congress and Directive 25-CT/TW of the Secretariat on raising the level of multilateral diplomacy by 2030. We need to proactively promote initiatives, core and leading roles at the UN, expand participation and increase the number of Vietnamese experts working at the UN and specialized international organizations.

At the same time, we need to continue to launch new initiatives in areas with global impact such as green transformation, digital transformation, science and technology, artificial intelligence, etc. Along with that, we need to continue to fully and effectively implement international commitments, ensure close coordination, unity of thinking and consensus throughout the entire political system, continue to innovate, arrange and streamline the organizational apparatus, in order to improve the effectiveness of multilateral foreign affairs. With the above orientations, Vietnam will continue to accompany the UN in the future, as well as in the Vietnam - UN relationship.