The beauty of Hoan Kiem Lake. Photo: Thu Ha

26 years ago, the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements was held in Istanbul (Turkey) from June 3-14, 1996. The conference is called "City Summit".

The goals of the conference were the shared goals of affordable housing for all, safer, healthier and more livable cities.

During the conference, inspired by the Charter of the United Nations, UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor proposed the creation of the Cities for Peace Prize.

Since then, at the end of 1997, the 29th General Conference of UNESCO approved this prize with a frequency of once every 2 years, and applied to 5 typical cities representing 5 regions: Asia - Pacific, Africa, Middle East - Arab, Latin America - Caribbean and Europe

Two years after the decision of the 29th General Assembly, on July 16, 1999, UNESCO announced the list of the first 5 typical cities of the award-winning regions, including the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. Hanoi is the first city in Asia to receive the prize.

The award means a lot to the city. It is a proud honor not only for Hanoi but also for the whole country. It is also the international recognition of the heroic tradition of national independence and the aspiration for peace of the Vietnamese people.

This event has contributed to enhancing the position and prestige of Hanoi particularly and Vietnam in the international and regional arena, introducing Hanoi to the world.

It helps strengthen friendship and cooperation between Hanoi and other countries in terms of economy, trade, investment, culture and services. It is also the encouragement and responsibility of the people of Hanoi to contribute to a beautiful, modern and civilized capital.

Hoan Kiem Lake. Photo: meimeiontour

After more than 20 years since receiving the title of City for Peace, Hanoi has implemented a plan with the goal of building a modern city while still retaining the bold identity of a thousand-year-old tradition.

Throughout it's lengthy history, Hanoi has always achieved important achievements, especially in building the image of elegant and civilized Hanoians, preserving and promoting typical cultural values ​​of Thang Long - Hanoi. In 2008, the city scale was expanded, the stature of a big capital brought Hanoi higher responsibility.

Therefore, Hanoi has focused on improving the quality of education, training, health care, creating jobs, reducing the rate of poor households and reducing social security.

The life of people in the capital, especially in rural areas, far from the center has improved markedly.

Those results are a living proof of Hanoi's great achievements. Those are from the contributions and efforts of the whole political system, people of Hanoi and the whole country towards the capital.

The image of the city has had positive and comprehensive changes compared to before, despite many difficulties and challenges and much work to be done. Compared to UNESCO's criteria, Hanoi has performed well and will forever be worthy of the title City for Peace.

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