Vietnam completes outstanding tenure as UNESCO Board member for 2021-2025
WVR - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van affirmed that Vietnam always values multilateral cooperation and UNESCO's role, committing to continue contributing proactively and positively to common work.
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| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ngo Le Van led the Vietnamese delegation attending the 222nd Session of the UNESCO Executive Board. |
On October 6 and 7, the plenary opening of the 222nd Session of the UNESCO Executive Board took place in Paris, with the participation of 57 member countries and over 100 observer nations.
This important session nominated key leadership positions of UNESCO, such as the Director-General for the 2025-2029 term and the President of the 43rd UNESCO General Conference. Deputy Foreign Minister Ngo Le Van led the Vietnamese delegation at the session.
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| Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van speaking at the opening session. |
In his opening remarks, Deputy Foreign Minister Van stated that in the context of global challenges such as conflicts, unilateralism, climate change, inequality, and the rise of artificial intelligence, UNESCO must continue to contribute to strengthening multilateralism and international law, undertake extensive reforms, diversify partnerships, enhance its image, and affirm its role as the "common house of intellect and humanity".
Deputy Foreign Minister Van shared Vietnam's new policies, such as waiving tuition fees for all public school students from 2025, enacting the Teachers' Law, and key resolutions on education and training development, science and technology advancement, innovation, and digital transformation, which have been highly praised by other countries.
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| The Vietnamese delegation attending the 222nd Session of the UNESCO Executive Board. |
The Deputy Minister proposed that UNESCO continue to play a pioneering role in promoting lifelong learning, digital transformation in education, ensuring equal access to knowledge for all; ethics in artificial intelligence, open science, biodiversity conservation, water security, and ocean governance; emphasizing the role of culture in inclusive growth, social cohesion, climate change response, and enhancing resilience.
Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van affirmed that Vietnam always values multilateral cooperation and UNESCO's role; committed to continue contributing proactively and positively to common work, including the proposal to establish the "International Decade for Culture for Sustainable Development" and hosting the Asia-Pacific Regional Steering Committee Meeting of the International Hydrological Programme, combined with the 50th anniversary of the Programme and the 60th anniversary of UNESCO's water science programme in October 2025.
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| Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van meeting with nominated UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany. |
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| Deputy Foreign Minister Ngo Le Van and nominated Director-General Khaled El-Enany with other delegates. |
On this occasion, Deputy Foreign Minister Van held meetings with current and incoming UNESCO leaders, including current Director-General Audrey Azoulay, nominated Director-General Khaled El-Enany (to be officially appointed at the 43rd UNESCO General Conference in November 2025), Deputy Director-General Xing Qu, Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone, Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences Lidia Brito, and heads of delegations from several Executive Board member countries, to promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
The Deputy Foreign Minister also worked with Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the World Heritage Centre, and Marie-Laure Lavenir, Director-General of ICOMOS, on cooperation in preserving and promoting the value of world heritage sites in Vietnam.
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| Deputy Foreign Minister Ngo Le Van meeting with UNESCO Deputy Director-General Xing Qu. |
The Deputy Minister expressed his desire for UNESCO leadership and the Secretariat to pay attention, provide advice, and support Vietnam's heritage nominations such as the Oc Eo-Ba The archaeological site, Con Moong Cave, Cu Chi Tunnels, Co Loa Citadel; the art of Dong Ho folk painting; and other titles like Hanoi joining the Global Learning Cities Network, Ho Chi Minh City joining the Creative Cities Network...
Notably, Vietnam hopes to continue receiving support and expert advice in preserving and promoting the value of world heritage sites recognized by UNESCO, including the project to preserve, restore, and promote the value of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel-Hanoi, associated with the restoration of Kinh Thien Palace and its central space.
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| Deputy Foreign Minister Ngo Le Van meeting with UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone. |
During the meetings and interactions, UNESCO leaders and delegation heads from various countries regarded Vietnam as a strategic, reliable partner of UNESCO.
They highly appreciated Vietnam for completing its role as a UNESCO Executive Board member for the 2021-2025 term and continuing to be an active, responsible, important, and effective contributor to joint cooperation in other key governance mechanisms. UNESCO leaders and country heads hope Vietnam will continue to share with other countries its cultural and educational policies, and experiences in harmonizing heritage conservation with sustainable development.
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| Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van working with Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the World Heritage Centre. |
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| Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van working with Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director of the World Heritage Centre. |
UNESCO and ICOMOS leaders pledged to support and accompany Vietnam in developing and promoting the heritage dossiers proposed by the Vietnamese delegation and expressed their desire to visit Vietnam soon.
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| The Vietnamese delegation working with the Director-General of ICOMOS. |
The 222nd Session of the UNESCO Executive Board will continue until October 16, discussing cooperation across all fields of education, culture, science, personnel, management, and external relations of the Organization.
(Source: Vietnamese Permanent Mission to UNESCO)
