Lunar New Year officially becomes a United Nations holiday

In its final session of 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution for the first time recognizing Lunar New Year as an annual United Nations public holiday.

The UN General Assembly resolution highlights that the Lunar New Year is a public holiday in many member states, and encourages UN bodies not to hold meetings on the first day of the lunar new year.

The UN General Assembly's adoption of the above Resolution right before the New Year of Giap Thin 2024 is not only important for countries officially celebrating Lunar New Year but also good news for nearly 2 billion people around the world who consider Lunar New Year the most important holiday of the year.

This is the international community's recognition of traditional Asian culture, the result of a coordinated campaign at the United Nations, in which Vietnam was one of 12 countries participating in a joint letter sent to the United Nations leaders in August 2023 and actively promoting this.

Previously, on August 10, 2023, the Ambassadors and Heads of Missions of 12 countries to the United Nations, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, sent a joint letter to the Chairman of the Conference Committee requesting that the Lunar New Year be included in the annual calendar of the United Nations to demonstrate the commitment of the world's largest multilateral organization to the diversity and inclusiveness as well as the cultural significance of this important holiday.