UPR, an inter-governmental mechanism
of the Human Rights Council, reviews human rights issues in all UN member
states. It is based on the principles of dialogue, cooperation, equality,
objectivity, and transparency with the aim of improving and promoting the
implementation of obligations and commitments on human rights. Vietnam
went through the first UPR in May 2009.
Speaking at the workshop, Vu Quang Anh,
Director of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of International Organizations,
said after accepting 182 recommendations on human rights made by UN member
states in February 2014, Vietnam
assigned ministries and sectors to seriously implement the recommendations.
At present, 147 of the 182 accepted
recommendations have been implemented while four others have been partly
carried out. Notably, Vietnam
ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. It also approved dozens of important legal documents relating to
human rights and citizens’ rights so as to concretize the 2013 Constitution in
line with international conventions to which Vietnam is a party.
The country has also improved public
awareness of human rights in all fields, including politics, economy, society
and culture, he noted, adding that it is effectively implementing many national
programs to protect vulnerable groups’ interests such as the national action
programs on gender equality, the elderly, and children.
It has fully implemented policies
targeting persons subject to social protection, particularly children, the
elderly, and the disabled. Meanwhile, authorized agencies have also supported
residents in areas suffering from natural disasters, drought, saltwater
intrusion, and pollution.
As a result, average per capita
income increased from 1,900 USD in 2013 to 2,215 USD in 2016, Anh said.
Nicholas Booth, policy adviser for governance,
access to justice and human rights at UNDP in Vietnam,
said the UN highly values Vietnam’s
coordination with human rights agencies in realizing the recommendations and
improving the UPR process.
However, the UN realizes that the
country is facing many challenges to the recommendation implementation such as
asynchronous legal system, limited resources for social welfare programs, and
overloading at sectors and authorities which have to carry out the
recommendations and many other tasks at the same time.
Booth asked Vietnam to maximize
agencies’ responsibility in independently implementing the recommendations and
ensure sufficient financial and human resources for the work. Particularly, it
needs to form close and sustainable partnership between local administrations
and social and civil organizations to effectively implement the UPR process.
At the workshop, participants also
discussed the focus and orientations for the implementation of the 3rd-cycle
UPR recommendations in the time ahead.
Source: VNA