Part 3: Joining the world to look towards a common goal
A consistent policy benefits the entire people
Over the past years, the Party and State of Vietnam have always had consistent policies in protecting and promoting human rights. Particularly, the people are identified as the center, the goal and the most important driving force for the country’s development.
In fact, the guarantee of human rights in Vietnam, including citizens’ religious freedom, civil, socio-political, economic and cultural rights, has been paid due attention to. The State of Vietnam has exerted efforts to build and perfect the legal system on human rights with hundreds of legal documents and ordinances, such as the Law on Belief and Religion, the Law on Children, the Law on Press, and the Law on Cyber Security.
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The Vietnamese delegation at the 51st session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland which took place from September 12 to October 7. |
Notably, the document of the 13th National Party Congress continues to confirm that the people are the center and the subject of the renewal, national construction and protection cause and that all guidelines and policies must come from the people's life, aspirations, rights and legitimate interests, identifying the people's happiness and well-being as a goal to strive for.
Reality has proved the Vietnamese Party and State’s efforts to ensure the rights for its people. In the combat against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Vietnam considered the care for the people’s health and their interests top priority.
Ms. Rana Flowers, acting U.N. Resident Coordinator in Vietnam and UNICEF Representative in Vietnam highlighted Vietnam’s high vaccination coverage to protect the people, including the poorest and the most vulnerable people, and stressed that the country has become a model in the pandemic fight for the world.
In an interview in late July during her visit to Vietnam, Ms. Kanni Wignaraja, Assistant to U.N. Secretary-General and UNDP’s Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia, expressed her impression on Vietnam’s people-centered policy and its commitments to ensuring human rights.
Continuing to contribute to the common efforts
Besides consistent efforts to ensure all basic rights of citizens, Vietnam has actively cooperated with other countries, and proposed initiatives to promote and protect human rights in the world.
Since its first election as a member of the UNHRC in the 2014-2016 period, Vietnam has proactively been participating in human rights-related forums launched by the U.N., ASEAN and other mechanisms. The country has contributed initiatives in ensuring the rights of women, children, people with disabilities, and climate change-badly-affected people.
Together with active and proactive engagement in human rights conventions, Vietnam has joined dialogues on rights of people with other countries, such as the U.S., Australia, the European Union, during which the country emphasized its willingness to enhance collaboration and exchanges of viewpoints on human rights-related issues.
Recently, the Washington Times had an article spotlighting Vietnam’s effective contribution to the U.N. activities in peace-building, development, and assurance of human rights since its official admission to the U.N. in September 1977.
In recognition of Vietnam’s great contribution, ASEAN member states have reached a consensus to nominate Vietnam as a regional candidate for a seat at the UNHRC in the 2023-2025 period. That is the honor of Vietnam and a confirmation of the country’s prestige and achievements in human rights. It also, as the Washington Times wrote, shows the country’s wish to contribute more to the world’s common efforts of promoting and protecting human rights since Vietnamese people always uphold and target the core goals of life - the rights to live in peace, stability, safety and prosperity.
At a high-level segment of UNHRC’s 49th regular session in Geneva, Switzerland held in March, the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son gave a message of “Mutual Respect. Dialogue and Cooperation. Ensuring All Human Rights, for All” on Vietnam’s candidature for the UNHRC membership.
Translated by Mai Huong