The Vietnamese Government and the United Nations (UN) have signed an Agreement on building a green one UN house to mark a new milestone in UN reform efforts in Vietnam. UN agencies in Vietnam will be working on a building to enhance the performance efficiency of the UN in Vietnam.
According to the new agreement, the current building at number 304, Kim Ma Street, Hanoi will be renovated and upgraded to become an environmentally friendly building for the UN in Vietnam. The UN’s common house will facilitate and strengthen connections between UN agencies. This new house will use energy and water more economically and efficiently, contributing to minimising the impact on the environment.
The house will be a common office for all UN employees, who are currently working in more than 10 different locations in Hanoi. It will help the UN improve the efficiency of administrative services and significantly cut costs.
The green one UN house is a joint effort of the Vietnamese Government, stakeholders and the UN in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Government will contribute the area, building with modern infrastructure and free rent for the first 10 years for the UN. Bilateral stakeholders like Australia, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, England and UN agencies have funded a relatively large amount of money to cover construction cost.
“The green one UN house will foster the effort of “unity of action” of the UN in Vietnam and help the UN build a strong staff so they can effectively support the development of Vietnam,” said Mrs Pratibha Mehta, UN’s Coordinator in Vietnam, “With green characteristics, the green one UN house is the UN’s commitment in contribution of ensuring environmental sustainability.”
Vietnam is one of the eight countries in the world to pilot the initiative “Action as one”, aiming to enhance the coherence and effectiveness of UN’s system at the national level. Vietnam is one of the first countries of UN to realise the coordination.
The initiative of global “Unified Action” reform has begun since 2006 when governments from eight countries - Albania, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uruguay and Vietnam - volunteered to be pilot nations for the “Unified Action” initiative. These eight countries have agreed on taking advantage of the strength and comparative advantages of the UN’s members to find solutions to enhance the influence of the UN system.
In Vietnam, this initiative helps collect knowledge, experience and capacity of all UN agencies in Vietnam with the purpose of providing more consistent and effective support. The six pillar elements of Vietnam’s reform include a general plan, a general budget, a general leader (of UN agencies), a general regulation, a general voice and green one UN house.
The general plan raises three major areas which both UN and the Vietnamese Government will cooperate to implement in the 2012 - 2016 period. These three areas include increasing growth sustainably and inclusively for people; accessing essential services with quality and social protection; and improving governance and participation. Activities in these three areas will help solve the priority matters of Vietnam, as stated in the Social - Economic Development Strategy for the period of 2011 - 2020 and Social - Economic Development Plan for the period of 2011 - 2015.
Quynh Anh
Vietnamese
