National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan hosted a reception for Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong on the sidelines of a conference themed “The National Assembly and the sustainable development goals” held in the central coastal city of Da Nang on December 17. 

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) receives Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong

The NA leader praised Martin Chungong for his attention to promoting the role of the parliament in monitoring the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs). She noted that the IPU Secretary General had proposed and supported Vietnam’s organisation of the IPU Asia-Pacific conference on response to climate change – action of legislators to realise SDGs in Ho Chi Minh City in May 2017.

According to Ngan, the NA Committee for External Relations held the conference on “The National Assembly and the sustainable development goals” in coordination with the United Nations (UN) and IPU agencies with the aim of enhancing the role of the parliament in implementing SDGs in each country and disseminating a toolkit for self assessment in this field. The toolkit was jointly developed by the IPU and the UN Development Programme, and was announced last year.

Besides studying the toolkit, the Vietnamese NA has learned experience from some countries, the NA Chairwoman said, adding that the conference is the first step for deputies of the NA and local People’s Councils to start building action plans to promote the implementation of SDGs that suit the priorities, requirements and development context of each locality.

The top legislator took this occasion to thank Martin Chungong for his active contributions to the relations between the Vietnamese NA and the IPU, especially enhancing the participation of the NA in this important forum.

She thanked the IPU Secretary General and the IPU Executive Committee for their approval of the Asia-Pacific group’s nomination of Nguyen Van Giau – Chairman of the NA Committee for External Relations, as Vice President of the committee for the 2018-2019 tenure.

Chungong said Vietnam is a model in the implementation of SDGs programmes and projects. 

He noted that Vietnam, as an active member of the IPU, has been selected as one of the Asian-Pacific countries to popularise the SDGs self-assessment toolkit among deputies of the NA and all-level People’s Councils.

The IPU is willing to support Vietnam in using the toolkit to supervise the implementation of SDGs, he affirmed.

The IPU Secretary General mentioned the nutrition matter as part of the SDGs, noting that the IPU is ready to partner with Vietnam in this area.

Chairwoman Ngan informed her guest that at this conference, Vietnamese ministries will affirm their commitments to implementing the SDGs, including that on nutrition.

During the process of striving for fulfilling the SDGs, each ministry, agency and locality will use the toolkit to assess their progress, which she said will help the NA in deciding priorities towards achieving the SDGs.-VNA