VietNamNet Bridge – The UNESCO General Conference’s 37th session in Paris has issued a resolution honouring great Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du and other international cultural figureheads.

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Addressing the sidelines of the meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son, who is also Chairman of the Vietnam National UNESCO Commission, noted it was a great honour for Vietnam.  

Son explained the recognition was decided according to the voting rules outlined in UNESCO Executive Board resolution 191/EX32.

He said UNESCO has recognised the global influence of Nguyen Du’s masterpiece The Tale of Kieu, now translated into more than 20 languages and cherished for its creativity, independent thinking, and distillation of Vietnamese culture.

In a November 8 speech before the General Conference’s plenary session, Son pledged Vietnam’s continued support for UNESCO General Director Irina Bokova’s reform campaign. Vietnam is open to hosting major UNESCO events at the regional level, he said.

Son also emphasised the importance of education to successfully orienting nations towards sustainable development goals.

Vietnam spends 20% of its annual budget on education, enabling its compulsory high school completion policy. Vietnam has a national 2005–2015 action plan for building a learning society and developing a community learning centre network.  

Son passed on Vietnam’s appreciation of UNESCO’s efforts to preserve and promote the world’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

He recalled how Vietnam commemorated the 40th anniversary of the Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage in Ninh Binh in September 2012, and the 10th anniversary of the Convention on Protecting Intangible Cultural Heritage in Quang Nam.

Son cited both celebrations as demonstrations of Vietnam’s commitment to heritage preservation.

Vietnam commended ASEAN and UNESCO on their recent signing of a cooperation framework agreement, Son said adding it will contribute to successfully establishing an ASEAN Community by 2015.

General Director Bokova praised Vietnam’s work as a UNESCO Executive Board member during the 2009–2013 term, labelling the country’s efforts a leading example that should inspire other UNESCO member nations.

Source: VOV