Vietnam’s election as a member of the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as the World Heritage Convention) demonstrates Vietnam’s prestige in the international arena and the international community’s trust in Vietnam’s ability to contribute and its management capacity in multilateral institutions. However, this is also a great responsibility, requiring us to make greater efforts to demonstrate that Vietnam is an active and responsible member of the international community.
Panorama of the 24th General Assembly meeting of the World Heritage Convention on November 22. Photo: VNA
The trust of the international community
On November 22, within the framework of the 24th General Assembly of the World Heritage Convention member states in Paris (France), Vietnam was elected as a member of the World Heritage Committee for the 2023-2027 term, with 121/171 valid votes, the highest in the group of 4 Asia- Pacific regions and ranked 2/9 countries elected in 5 regions.
The World Heritage Committee is a body of the United NationsEducational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that examines and approves properties to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Committee was established under the World Heritage Convention adopted by the UNESCO General Conference at its 17th session in 1972.
The World Heritage Committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, determining the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocating financial assistance when requested by States. The Committee has 21 members who are signatories and ratifiers of the World Heritage Convention. These members are elected by the General Assembly of States Parties for a four-year term.
With 194 countries, the World Heritage Convention is the convention with the largest number of UNESCO members. Therefore, the race for a seat on the World Heritage Committee is always difficult and highly competitive.
Commenting on the results of the vote to elect members of the World Heritage Committee, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc, Chairman of the Vietnam National Commission for UNESCO, Head of the Vietnamese delegation attending the meeting, said that this is the second time Vietnam has assumed the role of UNESCO's most important cultural executive body. This is of great significance in many aspects, affirming the correct foreign policy of the Party and State as in the spirit of the 13th National Party Congress, Directive No. 25-CT/TW of the Secretariat on multilateralization, diversification, comprehensive and extensive international integration, promoting and elevating multilateral diplomacy, synchronously implementing and effectively coordinating political diplomacy, economic diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, bilateral and multilateral diplomacy.
In addition, winning the election with a high number of votes also demonstrates Vietnam's prestige in the international arena, the trust and support of the international community in our country's ability to contribute and its management capacity in global multilateral institutions, and at the same time recognizes Vietnam's practical contributions in relations with UNESCO, in preserving, conserving and promoting the value of heritage in Vietnam and in the world. This is also the result of the effective implementation of the Cultural Diplomacy Strategy to 2030, the process of systematic, synchronous and widespread advocacy with international partners in Hanoi, Paris and the capitals of other countries through representative agencies.
Great responsibility
Ambassador Le Thi Hong Van, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam to UNESCO, emphasized that by participating for the first time in five of UNESCO's top management mechanisms at the same time, Vietnam has the opportunity to continue to contribute more proactively and positively to UNESCO's major programs and orientations in general and on culture in particular, raising awareness of the importance of heritage because it is not only an essential resource for cultural diversity, creativity, dialogue between cultures and social cohesion but also a driving force for peace, self-reliance and sustainable development.
The Vietnamese delegation attended the 24th session of the World Heritage Convention General Assembly on November 22-23. Photo: VNA
On the other hand, as a member of the World Heritage Committee for the 2023-2027 term, Vietnam will have favorable conditions to further contribute to the completion and implementation of the goals and priorities of the World Heritage Convention, sharing experiences in harmoniously handling the relationship between conservation and development of world heritages in Vietnam as Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, affirmed: "Vietnam is a typical success in connecting economic and cultural development; and is a good model of environmental conservation and sustainable tourism development".
Meanwhile, Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Thu Hien, Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, a member attending the meeting, representing the Vietnamese expert group, said that Vietnam joined the World Heritage Convention in 1987. Since then, Vietnam has always made many efforts to integrate the content and spirit of the Convention into laws, programs, and projects related to cultural and natural heritage and socio-economic issues.
Vietnam has hosted many important international events in the field of world heritage such as the UNESCO Expert Conference on World Heritage and Sustainable Development (2015), the International Conference on Conservation and Development of Urban Heritage (2017), the International Workshop "World Heritage and Sustainable Development in the New Context" (2018), the 50th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention (2022), the International Conference on Promoting UNESCO Titles for Sustainable Development in Vietnam (2023)...
In the coming time, as a member of the World Heritage Committee, Vietnam, together with 20 other member countries, will assume the responsibility of supervising the implementation of the Convention; protecting, preserving and promoting the value of 1,199 world heritages worldwide, and at the same time considering criteria for inscribing new world heritages to preserve, promote and pass on historical and cultural values to future generations, contributing to the sustainable development of the world./.
Thuy Hang
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