National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan received new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Director for Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen in Hanoi on November 8.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) receives new UNDP Country Director for Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen on November 8

The host leader voiced her belief that with more than 25 years of experience gained through various important positions, Wiesen, who is UNDP Country Director for 2017-2019, will considerably contribute to the Vietnam-UN cooperation as well as between the Vietnamese parliament and the UNDP.

She appreciated the UN and UNDP’s assistance to Vietnam’s socio-economic development, especially in poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS fight, child care and protection, disease and natural disaster prevention and control, climate change response, administrative reform, and improving Vietnam’s integration capacity. 

That support has enabled Vietnam to promote sustainable development, she noted, stressing that over the last four decades, Vietnam has been an active and responsible member of the UN and fulfilled the roles that it has been entrusted by the UN.

Chairwoman Ngan hailed the UNDP’s strong cooperation with the Vietnamese NA over the past 20 years, which has focused on improving parliamentarians’ lawmaking and supervisory capacity and skills.

In recent years, the UNDP has effectively assisted the NA in analysing policies, proposing recommendations regarding important draft laws, and enhancing the NA’s supervision of the implementation of international conventions and treaties to which Vietnam is a party.

Caitlin Wiesen agreed with her host on the fruitful cooperation between the UNDP and the NA, valuing Vietnam’s efforts in poverty elimination and gender equality promotion.

The UNDP has completed translating the sustainable development self-assessment toolkit for parliaments, built by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the UNDP, into Vietnamese. 

Wiesen said she hopes the Vietnamese NA will introduce this translated toolkit to lawmakers and relevant agencies of the country, thus helping to provide information about Sustainable Development Goals, the action framework and parliaments’ engagement to promote the realisation of these Goals.

Chairwoman Ngan thanked the UNDP for translating the toolkit and considered this toolkit as important to achieving the Goals.

At the meeting, the host leader suggested cooperation orientations for the UNDP and the Vietnamese NA, asking the UNDP to continue its technical support for the local parliament in improving the legislative capacity, supervising the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, responding to climate change, and socio-economic development issues.-VNA