Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet

The United Nations Human Rights Council recently adopted Vietnam's national report under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, cycle IV, on September 27th in Geneva, Switzerland. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet held a press briefing on the results of the session that adopted Vietnam's UPR report, cycle IV.

Reporter:Mr. Deputy Minister, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted Vietnam's national report under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, cycle IV, on September 27th in Geneva, Switzerland. Could you please share more about this result?

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet:The UN Human Rights Council has officially adopted Vietnam's national report under the UPR mechanism, cycle IV. This is the result of a long preparation process by the Vietnamese Government. Immediately following the dialogue session in May 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with other ministries, agencies, and organizations, actively conducted a thorough review of all 320 recommendations received from 133 countries, and submitted the report to the Prime Minister for approval.

At the session on September 27th, Vietnam announced its decision to accept 271 out of 320 recommendations made by other countries, achieving a rate of 84.7%. This is the highest acceptance rate for Vietnam in four cycles. This demonstrates Vietnam's strong commitment to the UPR process, as well as affirming Vietnam's desire and determination to protect and promote human rights.

Approximately 90 countries, international organizations, and several non-governmental organizations attended the session. It can be said that the vast majority of speakers highly appreciated Vietnam's efforts and the participation of the Vietnamese delegation in open and frank exchanges and dialogues, providing much useful information that helped the international community better understand the situation in Vietnam.

On this occasion, we also updated information on the latest developments since the May Dialogue Session in areas such as building and improving legal institutions, and continuing to ensure the basic foundations for socio-economic development to better guarantee human rights in Vietnam.

At the same time, the Vietnamese delegation promptly refuted the false claims and unverified information used by a few non-governmental organizations at the session, which reflected prejudice against Vietnam. We affirmed our commitment to creating a favorable environment for citizens to participate in contributing to the development of policies and laws; we affirmed that the exercise of human rights must also be based on the rule of law, respecting the rights and interests of individuals and communities, for the stability and prosperity of the entire country; and we emphasized our unwavering determination to not tolerate actions that exploit freedoms and democracy to incite unrest and instability.

Reporter:Could the Head of Delegation please share more about the most noteworthy points in the statements from the participating countries at the adoption session?

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet:Particularly moving at the September 27th session was the way countries and international friends took advantage of the limited time allocated by the Human Rights Council for their speeches to express their solidarity and share in the pain and losses caused by Typhoon Yagi to the Vietnamese people. Delegates expressed their hope that with the government's efforts and commitment, the lives and livelihoods of the people would soon be stabilized, and the consequences would be overcome to continue the economic growth. At the same time, there were also opinions highly appreciating the significance of Vietnam conducting dialogue activities on the UPR at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, precisely in 2024, the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory and the signing of the Geneva Accords on ending the war and restoring peace in Indochina. Some speeches also reviewed the Vietnamese people's struggle to determine their own destiny and their path to independence, freedom, and happiness, considering it the foundation for protecting and promoting human rights in Vietnam.

With the main purpose of the Session being the results of the 4th cycle review with Vietnam, all participating countries recommended that the Human Rights Council adopt our 4th cycle national report, along with our position on the 320 recommendations we had announced. Countries welcomed our acceptance of a large number of recommendations, demonstrating a strong commitment to the UPR process in particular, and to protecting and promoting human rights in general. Countries also had positive assessments of our efforts and achievements in several areas, such as promoting sustainable development to better ensure human rights, adopting a multidimensional approach to poverty reduction, focusing on promoting gender equality, and protecting vulnerable groups. At the same time, some countries noted that we have good experiences in effectively participating in the UPR and suggested that we continue to share them with other countries.

I believe that the comprehensive, objective, and realistic assessments in Vietnam demonstrate that international partners have a positive interest and deep understanding of the updated information about Vietnam's country, people, history, culture, and development process. This also reflects our international standing and prestige in multilateral forums. This is a point we need to continue to cultivate and promote in the future.

Reporter: Could the Deputy Minister please share more about Vietnam's next steps in implementing the 271 recommendations that Vietnam has declared its acceptance of in Cycle IV?

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet:We have experience implementing UPR recommendations in the three previous cycles. In this fourth cycle, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to coordinate with ministries and agencies to develop and report to the Prime Minister a comprehensive plan for implementing the 271 approved recommendations. This comprehensive plan will specifically assign responsibilities and tasks to each ministry, agency, and organization to implement the recommendations, as well as propose mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating their implementation. We also plan to conduct a mid-term review to determine the progress of implementation and areas requiring further effort.

Throughout this process, Vietnam will continue to cooperate with the United Nations, international partners, and friendly countries to secure additional resources to best implement these recommendations.

Reporter: Thank you, Deputy Minister.

Source: dangcongsan.vn