Meeting with former leaders, experts, scholars and retired officials in the field of UNESCO

On the morning of March 18, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, chaired a meeting with former leaders, experts, scholars and retired officials of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2025.

Gặp mặt các nguyên lãnh đạo, chuyên gia, học giả và cán bộ hưu trí trong lĩnh vực UNESCO

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, chaired a meeting with former leaders, experts, scholars and retired officials of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

At the meeting, Secretary General of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO Le Thi Hong Van reported on the Commission's work in 2024, notably the historic visit of General Secretary To Lam to UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France) in October 2024. On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay agreed to assess the Vietnam-UNESCO partnership as a model of "comprehensive, substantive and effective" , through which Vietnam has increasingly affirmed its role, position, prestige and made many positive contributions to the international community.

Secretary General of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO Le Thi Hong Van reports on the Commission's work in 2024. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

In 2024 alone, Vietnam has campaigned for 6 more UNESCO titles, bringing the total to 71 titles, spread across the country; successfully campaigned for the Thang Long Imperial Citadel to "degrade some buildings in the core heritage area", an unprecedented precedent in UNESCO's history; successfully organized for the first time 4 visits by UNESCO Senior Leaders to Vietnam (including the Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences; President of the UNESCO General Conference; Assistant Director-General for External Relations and African Priorities and Chairman of the World Heritage Committee); successfully organized 10 delegations of local leaders to attend UNESCO activities.

Ms. Van said that 2025 is also the first time Vietnam participates in 6 key management mechanisms of UNESCO when simultaneously holding the positions of: Vice President of the UNESCO General Conference; member of the UNESCO Executive Council for the 2021-2025 term; Vice President of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions for the 2004 term; member of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions for the 2021-2025 term; member of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage for the 2022-2026 term; member of the World Heritage Committee for the 2023-2027 term.

At the meeting, delegates welcomed the achievements of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO in recent times, and shared lessons and experiences from many years of working at the Commission as well as initiatives and ideas to continue to enhance the position, role and substantial contributions of Vietnam in UNESCO's specialized mechanisms, ensuring harmony between conservation and development, combining the need to support local socio-economic development and compliance with international conventions to which Vietnam is a member. At the same time, many delegates made specific contributions to UNESCO Vietnam's activities in the coming time.

Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, spoke at the meeting. (Photo: Nguyen Hong)

After listening to the reports and contributions of the delegates, Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu welcomed the achievements of the Committee last year, in the context of the world situation continuing to have many fluctuations, challenges and difficulties. At the same time, on behalf of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, he received the contributions of former leaders, experts, scholars and retired officials.

Permanent Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu directed the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO to continue promoting activities in all professional fields in the coming time, taking advantage of UNESCO's knowledge and resources to serve sustainable development, contributing to promoting the country's image, enhancing cultural values and spreading the intelligence and qualities of Vietnamese people to international friends.

Some pictures at the meeting: