Addresses delivered in the general policy debate by the Head of Delegation at the General Conference

37 session of the General Conference

Vice-Ministre des affaires étrangères du Viet Nam, S. E. M. Nguyen Thanh Son

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 37th session of the General Conference - revised and corrected version of the verbatim records of plenary meetings

36 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Thanh Son NGUYEN, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Speech delivered during the General Policy Debate of the 36th session of the General Conference and posted as received

35 session of the General Conference

H.E. Dr Nguyen Thien Nhan, Deputy Prime Minister

“Allow me to take this opportunity to offer my sincere congratulations to the Director-General, Mr Koïchiro Matsuura (…).”
“(…) Viet Nam considers investment in education as investment in sustainable national development. (…) Since 2008, the Vietnamese Education Service has launched a nationwide campaign to involve schools in the safeguarding and promotion of cultural heritage. (…) More than 50% of classified cultural properties have been given the protection and promotion by schools. By the end of 2010, all classified cultural properties will be protected and promoted by over 30,000 schools with 12 million students in Viet Nam.”
“(…) I call upon UNESCO to continue to introduce and replicate in Viet Nam, as well as in the Member States that may be concerned, the best practices of linking education to the conservation and promotion of historical and cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, as well as involving local communities in this endeavour. (…) Viet Nam would like to propose that UNESCO convene an international conference under the theme, “World Heritage Conservation – UNESCO’s role and schools’ participation,” which aims to enable the concerned Member States to exchange views and experience in integrating the safeguarding and promotion of heritage into the education of traditions and culture for young people. Viet Nam would be honoured to host such a conference in 2011 or later.”
“Our world is now facing serious challenges generated by climate change, a grave impact of which is the rise of the sea level. Being among the five countries hardest hit by sea level rise, Viet Nam is willing to support the UNESCO programmes that aim to cope with this global issue, notably a detailed plan of action for the UNESCO Strategy for Action on Climate Change. Furthermore, Viet Nam is of the view that UNESCO should increase budget for the “Man and the Biosphere” programme (…). Vietnam also highly values the initiative in encouraging outcome of the Delivery as One process, and I would like to ensure Vietnam's strong support for this UN reform process.”
“Viet Nam is strongly committed to the joint delivery of the programmes and activities of our common interest. (…) Viet Nam will organize in Hanoi a grand ceremony in October 2010 in celebration of the 1,000th anniversary of our capital city, Thang Long-Hanoi. This significant event, with which UNESCO is expected to be associated, will mark another milestone in the history of Viet Nam’s 1,000-year-old political, economic and cultural centre.”

34 session of the General Conference

H.E. Mr Nguyen Thien Nhan, Vice Prime minister and Minister of Education and Training

“We would like to welcome the return of Singapore and congratulate the Republic of Montenegro for being a new Member of UNESCO.”
Viet Nam notes that the reform process has been successful: UNESCO became more effective and transparent. Now it is time for the Organisation to play a more active role in the “One United Nations Initiative”, as one of the “Delivering as One” pilot. Viet Nam commits fully to the “One UN” goals. Furthermore, Viet Nam supports the intersectoral approach, namely in the Biosphere Reserves Network project.
“We believe that it is high time for us to create a fairer playground for other countries in the World Heritage Committee so as to achieve the World Heritage List with more universality and balance.” Viet Nam would also want to thank UNESCO for its help in preserving both material and intangible heritage and hopes another site, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, will be listed in the future.
Viet Nam has approved the Education for All National Action Plan in order to consolidate the achievements in literacy. The country has to improve now the global enrolment in primary education. A nationwide network of Community Learning Centres will be set up to support lifelong education and equal access to information.
The Government of Viet Nam is strongly committed to implement the content of the International Decade of Education for Sustainable Development with a four pillars model (respect of culture, involvement of the community, ICT, demand-driven education).
“We highly appreciate the active participation of UNESCO in establishing a global early warning system to detect tsunamis and UNESCO’s activities on ethics in science. I sincerely call for the full implementation of UNESCO’s ethics in science declarations in all countries to ensure a brighter future for human society.”

Celebration of anniversaries

250th anniversary of the birth of Nguyen Du, poet (1765-1820) (2015)

Nguyen Du is one of the major literary figures of Vietnam. He was an independent creative thinker and the first to write in Vietnamese using Chinese script. His most famous works entitled The Tale of Kieu has influenced the imagination of people not only in Vietnam but all over the world. He skilfully expressed the Vietnamese folk culture in his poems and writing. His influence is such that people quote texts from his works even today to describe situations and feeling. He has also written several books in Chinese.

1000th anniversary of the foundation of the city of Thang Long Ha Noi (1010) (2010)

Thang Long, which is Hanoi’s centre nowadays, was chosen by Ly Thai To, the founding king of Ly Dynasty, as the capital of Dai Viet Kingdom (nowadays Viet Nam) in autumn 1010. Thang Long means ascending dragon, symbolizing the will and thirst for independence of the Vietnamese people. Thang Long was almost continuously the capital city of Dai Viet Kingdom through different reigns.
The Cultural Heritage Complex of Thang Long – Hanoi consists of Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Thang Long Tu Tran and the Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (Temples of Literature – Imperial College).
From December 2002 to the beginning of 2004, the Viet Nam Archaeology Institute excavated on a large scale the archaeological site. This is the largest-scale archaeological excavation in Viet Nam and South-East Asia. A complex of abundant relics and vestiges has been discovered from Dai La citadel (seventh-ninth centuries) to Thang Long Citadel (eleventh-eighteenth centuries) and Hanoi citadel (nineteenth century).
Thang Long has been on the World Heritage Convention tentative list since 2006.

Nine hundred and ninetieth anniversary of the founding of the city of Thang Long-Hanoi (2000)

Thang Long was founded in 1010 by the Ly dynasty and remained the capital of the country until the early nineteenth century when the capital was transferred to Hue by the Nguyen dynasty. In 1945, Thang Long was restored to its position as capital of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, under the name of Hanoi.
The celebration of the nine hundred and ninetieth anniversary is part of the city’s millennium celebrations in 2010, which are due to start in 2000. The authorities of Viet Nam will be organizing activities over the next 10 years to promote cultural exchanges and peace and in so doing hope to contribute to the development of exchanges in the region and with the rest of the world, thereby encouraging the culture of peace.

100th anniversary of the birth of President Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese hero of national liberation and great man of culture (Viet Nam) (1990)

Reference document: 24 C/Resolutions + CORR.