Viet Nam hails key IPU role in development agenda

The Vice-President of Viet Nam has stressed IPU’s critical role in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), during talks in Geneva with Secretary General Martin Chungong on 13 June.  Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh also highlighted IPU’s part in ensuring the climate change deal agreed by world leaders last year is put into practice.  During the meeting at IPU Headquarters, Mr Chungong hailed Viet Nam’s progress on many issues, including gender equality. Nearly 27 per cent of the country’s MPs are women – against a global average of 22.3 per cent – and the Vietnamese Parliament has its first female Speaker, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. Mr Chungong thanked Viet Nam for its successful hosting of last year’s IPU spring Assembly, which adopted a major declaration on turning the SDGs into action.  He also expressed gratitude for the country’s commitment to promote stronger ties between the UN, parliaments and IPU during related discussions in New York in July.