Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu has just attended and delivered a speech at the Opening Discussion Session of the United Nations Security Council chaired by Foreign Minister Guyana (the country that holds the Chairman of the Security Council in June 2025) with the theme "Poverty, underdevelopment and conflict: Impact on maintaining international peace and security".
According to VNA, last weekend's meeting was attended by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Director of the Asia-Pacific region of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Chairman of the African Union Commission, along with many Ministers, Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Ambassadors, Heads of Delegations of United Nations member states.
Speaking at the opening of the discussion session, UN Secretary-General Guterres affirmed that the situation of poverty and deep inequality in society are the root causes of increased and prolonged conflict and instability in many countries and regions. It is no coincidence that 9 out of 10 countries with the lowest Human Development Index (HDI) in the world are countries in conflict.
In this situation, the United Nations Secretary General and many delegates called on the international community to increase investment in conflict prevention through sustainable, comprehensive, inclusive development and protection of vulnerable groups, while giving high priority to this issue.
At the discussion session, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu emphasized that sustainable development is not only a goal but also a foundation for maintaining long-term peace. Challenges such as poverty, inequality, food insecurity, and loss of livelihoods are deep causes and, if not thoroughly addressed, can become triggers and cause increased stress and conflict.
Sharing lessons and practical experiences on Vietnam's post-war reconstruction, Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu affirmed that focusing on sustainable development, with the support of international partners, including United Nations agencies, is a driving force to help Vietnam recover its economy, promote social solidarity and create remarkable development achievements in recent decades.
Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu also emphasized Vietnam's positive contributions to promoting development priorities in the United Nations peace and security agenda, most notably the initiation of Resolution 2573 on the protection of essential infrastructure for people's lives in armed conflicts when Vietnam assumes the role of non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2021-2022 term.
On this occasion, Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu made a number of specific recommendations to promote closer coordination between the Security Council and the development apparatus of the United Nations, especially the Economic - Social Council (ECOSOC) as well as the Committee for Peacebuilding and a number of other agencies, thereby creating a more comprehensive and synchronous approach to maintaining, building and maintaining peace, recovering after conflict, and sustainable development.
Sharing with the proposal of the UNDP representative, the Deputy Minister called on the international community to increase resources for new projects to focus on solving poverty and underdevelopment in areas at high risk of conflict; and affirmed that "Vietnam is ready to coordinate with partners for a more comprehensive, effective and sustainable United Nations peace and security agenda".
