Yerevan (VNA) – Members of the InternationalOrganisation of La Francophonie (OIF), including Vietnam, affirmed the importanceof multilateral organisations in maintaining global peace and stability at the17th Francophonie Summit, held in Yerevan capital of Armenia, on October 11 and12.

Talking to the press about the summit’soutcomes, Ambassador Duong Chi Dung, head of Vietnam’s permanent mission to theUnited Nations in Geneva and assistant to the Vietnamese Foreign Minister, saidthe event attracted nearly 40 presidents and prime ministers from the OIFmember countries and territories, along with representatives of the UN and manyinternational and regional organisations.

Themed “Living together in solidarity, sharinghumanistic values, and respect for diversity: a source of peace and prosperityin La Francophonie”, the summit highlighted the significance of internationalmultilateral organisations, including the OIF, in enhancing mutualunderstanding, respecting diversity, and promoting cooperation to maintainpeace and stability and resolve issues around the world and in the Francophonespace.

Dung noted that it adopted many importantdocuments, including the Yerevan Declaration, the Francophonie’s call forliving together, and the Francophone cooperation strategy for 2019-2022. Theywill not only help deal with challenges facing the Francophone community butalso set up orientations for the French-speaking community’s activities in thecoming time, particularly assisting the member states and governments torealise the Sustainable Development Goals, respond to climate change, boosteconomic growth, and increase the use of French at multilateral forums.

He added the summit admitted Ireland, Malta,Gambia and the US state of Louisiana as observers, raising the number of OIFmembers and observers to 88, thus further affirming the OIF’s role as theworld’s second biggest international organisation, after the UN.

The summit elected Rwandan Foreign MinisterLouise Mushikiwabo as Secretary-General of the OIF for the 2019-2022 term.

Dung highlighted active contributions by thehigh-ranking delegation of Vietnam, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign MinisterPham Binh Minh, to the summit.

The official noted Deputy PM Minh delivered animportant speech, stressing that the world and the Francophone community arefacing a number of challenges that no countries can singlehandedly resolve, somultilateral mechanisms like the OIF hold critical importance.

He asked the OIF to step up substantivecooperation, seek measures to deal with the root causes of crises andinstability such as inequality, hunger, poverty, and underdevelopment, continueto reinforce existing mechanisms for conflict prevention, and handle disputeson the basis of international law.

The Vietnamese delegation also mentioned theAsia-Pacific’s situation, emphasising that the region is an important part ofthe Francophone space, and it now also has to cope with many challenges causedby the strategic competition of power countries, racial conflicts, terrorism,cyber security, and climate change, Ambassador Dung said.

Deputy PM Minh affirmed that Vietnam has alwaysactively participated in and responsibly contributed to common efforts for thesake of peace, security and development of the world and the Francophonecommunity. 

Vietnam called on involved parties, and showedits readiness to join relevant sides to peacefully resolve East Sea disputes inconformity with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Lawof the Sea. It also asked the OIF members to continue supporting Vietnam’sefforts in this issue.

The Vietnamese side actively joined in thebuilding of and promoted the adoption of documents with content matching thecountry’s policies and interests.

Dung said the documents issued at the summitcalled on the Francophone community to pay more attention to the complicatedsituation in the East Sea, urging parties concerned to peacefully handledisputes on the basis of international law, exercise self-restraint, not use orthreaten to use force, ensure the security and safety of navigation andaviation, fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the EastSea, and make efforts to achieve an effective and efficient Code of Conduct inthe waters.

On the sidelines of the summit, Deputy PM Minhhad bilateral meetings with heads of delegations of France, Canada, Armenia,Mali, Haiti, Andorra, Cameroon, Guinea, and Madagascar to strengthen Vietnam’srelations with the countries and call for their endorsement of its candidacyfor non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

At these meetings, the countries said theytreasure ties with Vietnam and consider it a development model, especially forAfrican nations. They hoped that Vietnam will continue acting as a bridge ofthe OIF in the Asia-Pacific and contribute to peace, stability and developmentin the Francophone community and the world. They also promised to considersupporting Vietnam’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN SecurityCouncil, Ambassador Dung added.-VNA