Việt Nam donates US$500,000 humanitarian aid package to Ukraine
HÀ NỘI The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday has detailed the contents of the US$500,000 humanitarian aid package from Việt Nam to support conflict-ravaged Ukraine.
Deputy spokesperson for the foreign ministry Đoàn Khắc Việt said Việt Nam shares the international community's profound concerns and attention over the humanitarian situation caused by recent developments in Ukraine.
"Việt Nam believes it is necessary to put an immediate end to the use of force and ensure the safety and security of civilians, protect essential civilian infrastructures, respect and enforce humanitarian laws, and facilitate humanitarian access and evacuation for expatriate communities in Ukraine, including the Vietnamese community living in Ukraine," Việt said, adding that Việt Nam supports humanitarian activities of the United Nations and other countries and international partners to help the people affected by the conflict in Ukraine.
In responding to the UN'S call, Việt Nam has announced a package of $500,000 in aid for Ukraine - including $100,000 to the UN'S Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), $100,000 to the World Health Organisation (WHO), $100,000 to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and $200,000 to Việt Nam's Red Cross who will forward the aid to Ukraine's Red Cross, to help the implementation of humanitarian relief activities in Ukraine.
The donation was previously announced by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính in the meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio as part of the latter's Asian and European tour.
Vaccine passports
A total of 81 countries and territories, including all European Union's members, have recognised Việt Nam's COVID-19 vaccine passports so far, according to Việt.
He said Việt Nam has obtained mutual recognition of COVID-19 vaccine passports with 20 nations, including Japan, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, India, Belarus, Cambodia, Philippines, Palestine, Maldives, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Turkey, Singapore, Saint Lucia, Republic of Korea, Iran, Malaysia, and Dominica Republic.
In addition, on May 11, the European Commission (EC) recognised the digital COVID-19 certificates of Việt Nam as equivalents to the EU COVID Certificates issued by authorities in EU.
This means that Việt Nam's digital COVID-19 vaccine passports will be recognised by the 27 EU member nations, and the Vietnamese holders could enter the bloc under the same rules as those who hole EU Digital COVID-19 certificates.
Việt Nam's vaccine certificates would also be accepted in the 39 partner countries and territories that are participating in the EU'S digital COVID-19 vaccine certificate system, deputy spokesperson Việt said.
The recognition of 81 countries and territories for Việt Nam's COVID-19 vaccine passes are the result of the coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of
Health, the Ministry of Information and Communications as well as the active negotiations with partners.
In Việt Nam, people can access their vaccine passports on the Sổ sức khoẻ điện tử (Electronic health book app) and the national COVID-19 app (PC-COVID).
With regards to the question about whether there would be the major elevation of ties announced during the ongoing US visit by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính to attend the US-ASEAN Summit, the deputy spokesperson said the Government leader and high-ranking delegation will have working sessions with many partners, aiming towards strengthening our bilateral relations.
All the information and achievements gained during the visit would be given to the press.