Vietnam joins United Nations

With communist Vietnam having rebuffed all efforts of the U.S. to bring the country under their own control, they turned to the international community for legitimacy and recognition. That Vietnam was a communist country was not an insurmountable obstacle to international cooperation; no more than the country’s site as one of the most prolonged and bloodiest conflicts of the 20th century. The world at large could also see the benefit of Vietnam’s obligation to international law, so the country’s application to join the United Nations was carefully considered.

On this day, September 20, in 1977, after the United Nations Security Council advised the approval of Vietnam, the country joined the United Nations General Assembly.

The U.N. was one of the first international aid organizations to beging operating in the country after the Vietnam War ended in 1975. There was a lot of work to be done, both in rebuilding and ensuring sustainable growth and development. The U.N. Development Programme began spending around $20 million on Vietnam on a yearly basis in the 21st century.