Security Council – Work assessment under Viet Nam presidency (July 2008) – Letter from Viet Nam (excerpts)

    Letter dated 17 September 2008 from the Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

  I have the honour to transmit herewith a report on the work of the Security Council during the presidency of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in July 2008 (see annex). The document was prepared under my responsibility, after consultation with the other members of the Security Council.

  I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Le Luong Minh

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations

   Annex to the letter dated 17 September 2008 from the Permanent Representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

    Assessment of the work of the Security Council during the presidency of Viet Nam (July 2008)

  During the presidency of Viet Nam in July 2008, the Security Council engaged in an extensive programme of work and took appropriate actions on a wide agenda of sensitive issues in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, including developments in the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Rwanda, Somalia, the Sudan, West Africa, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Nepal, the Middle East, Lebanon, Kosovo and Abkhazia, Georgia. The Council was also engaged in other matters relating to its subsidiary bodies.

  During July 2008, the Security Council held 19 meetings, of which 16 were public ones, including an open debate on children and armed conflict and another on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Besides three private meetings, of which two were with troop-contributing countries, the Council also held consultations of the whole on 17 occasions. In addition, the Council adopted six resolutions and three presidential statements, and agreed on five statements to the press. The Council was not able to adopt a draft resolution on the situation in Zimbabwe under the item “Peace and security in Africa”.

  The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, Pham Gia Khiem, presided over the open debate on children and armed conflict and read out a presidential statement on the issue (S/PRST/2008/28) on 17 July.

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     Middle East 

  The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question 

  On 22 July, the Council convened an open debate on the situation in the Middle East, during which it heard a briefing by the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, who indicated a number of encouraging developments across the region and stressed the importance of achieving further visible progress in peaceful negotiations, consolidating the ceasefire and resolving the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and improving the livelihood of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Most representatives called upon the parties concerned to renounce violence, implement agreements, abide by their obligations under international law, particularly human rights and humanitarian law, and take further concrete action to advance the peace process towards its stated goals on the basis of United Nations resolutions, the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Annapolis Conference.

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