(Vietnam.vn) The Summit and 25th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Councils are to be held in Geneva on March 3 and 4, 2014. Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh leads the Vietnamese delegations to attend the event.

Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh

 

As planned, Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh is to speak at the Conference, laying stress on the policie, efforts and achievements of Vietnam in guaranteeing and boosting human rights and Vietnam’s determination to carry out seriously the worked-out commitments.

He also will highlight the priorities to be deployed by the Human Rights Council and at the same time share Vietnam’s priorities for human rights in the time to come. Vietnam’s consistent viewpoint is to heighten cooperation and constructive dialogue in the Human Rights Council and Vietnam is an active and responsible member which has made substantial contributions to the common job of the Council.

This is the first time Vietnam participates in the Summit of the UN Human Rights Council after being elected as the member of the Council in the last November with the high vote count.

The Conference has attracted the leaders of 80 countries and international organizations in a situation when attention has been paid to human rights by the countries and international public opinion.

In the 2013 Constitution of Vietnam, Chapter II deals with the “Fundamental Rights and Obligations of Citizens”. This is aimed at changing the awareness of the people. It inherits the 1946 Constitution and the Constitutions of many countries.

Chapter II of the Constitution on human rights is completely suitable to the international conventions on the human rights issue. These are the Convention on the Political Rights and the Convention on Economic and Social Rights to which Vietnam is the member. On the other hand, that Vietnam is elected to the Human Rights Council reflects the recognition of the international community concerning Vietnam’s efforts to guarantee human rights. One of the typical examples for this is the use of the Internet. Vietnam is one of the countries which have the highest Internet development in the world with the number of Internet users ranking among the highest. 

As far as the implementation of the UN Millennium Goals is concerned, Vietnam is among a few countries (one of the six) that have implemented the UN Millennium Goals ahead of schedule. After the UN Human Rights Council’s regular report on the implementation of human rights in 2009, Vietnam received 123 recommendations and most of these recommendations have been met. All these changes have placed Vietnam before pressure and new challenges. However, in the spirit of renovation, building and cooperation, Vietnam is boosting dialogues and cooperation in human rights with confidence.

As Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh said, it is necessary to “both perfect and boost further and protect well human rights. But at the same time, it is also necessary to supply full information so that people can understand about what Vietnam has done and what Vietnam needs to continue to implement”./.