The Vietnamese delegation to the event, held both in person at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva and via videoconferencing, also included representatives of Vietnam’s permanent mission in Geneva.
The session on youth and disarmament, initiated by Canada – the current President of the CD, aimed to improve youth’s awareness of the importance and significance of disarmament.
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Phung Trang Linh represents Vietnamese youth to deliver a speech at the event. |
It saw the presence of Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. Under-Secretary General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs; Jayathma Wickramanayake, the U.N. Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth; four representatives of the Youth Champions for Disarmament – Youth4Disarmament Initiative from Canada, Uganda, Lebanon, and Vietnam; and youth representatives of the Republic of Korea, the Czech Republic, France, Japan, Belgium, and Australia.
Via videoconferencing, Phung Trang Linh, a student from the Hanoi-based Foreign Trade University and one of the 10 champions of the Youth4Disarmament, gave a speech on youth participation in disarmament.
She affirmed young people’s numerous contributions to disarmament affairs, pointed out certain difficulties and challenges to young people’s engagement in disarmament, and proposed some solutions.
She stressed that young people around the world, including in Vietnam – once a war-torn country, are well aware of the value of peace and wish to help protect the future.
Linh expressed her hope that the youth’s effective participation in the time ahead will help build an effective disarmament mechanism, thus contributing to global peace, security, and sustainable development.
The CD is the only global multilateral negotiation forum on disarmament with 65 member states that represent almost all regions and groups of countries in different levels of development.
Vietnam took part in CD meetings for the first time in 1993 and became a full member in 1996.
The Youth4Disarmament is an initiative launched by the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs in 2019 with a view to connecting the youth in different geographical regions with experts to learn and discuss the U.N.’s works and current challenges to international security. It has chosen 10 outstanding youths from 6,515 candidates, who are from the U.K., Lebanon, Germany, Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda, Turkey, Canada, South Africa, and Vietnam.
Source: VNA