National Assembly Chairman speaks at the Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly

Within the framework of the 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly (IPU-137), on the afternoon of October 15 (local time), in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Federation, the plenary session of the IPU-137 General Assembly took place with the theme "Promoting cultural diversity and peace through religious and ethnic dialogue."

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan speaks at the plenary session of the 137th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly (IPU-137). (Photo: Trong Duc/VNA)

Leading the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan delivered a speech at this discussion session.

On behalf of the Vietnamese National Assembly Delegation, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan sent her warmest greetings to IPU President Saber Chowdhury, IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong and all delegates attending.

The National Assembly Chairman thanked the host country, the Russian Federation, for the warm welcome given to the Vietnamese National Assembly Delegation, and believed that with the experience of organizing many important international and regional conferences of the Federation Council and the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the 137th IPU General Assembly will be a great success.

Opening his speech, the National Assembly Chairman emphasized that the strong development of science and technology is bringing countries, political, economic, social systems, especially cultures and religions, closer together for mutual development.

But the world is also facing many complex problems such as: climate change, poverty, terrorism, non-traditional security, narrow nationalism, extremism, ethnic and religious conflicts...

The National Assembly Chairman emphasized: "In some places on Earth, bullets and bombs are still exploding, violence is increasing, cultural works are being destroyed, religious beliefs are being violated, and world peace and security are being seriously threatened. Reality shows that guns, war, and violence cannot solve conflicts in the world. Only tolerance, sincere dialogue, respect, trust, and mutual understanding between peoples and religions can bring peace and tranquility to the world."

In that spirit, the National Assembly Chairman highly appreciated the theme of the 137th IPU General Assembly. This theme reflects the continuation of the spirit of the Quebec Declaration on Citizenship, Identity and Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the Global World adopted by the IPU in 2012, in line with the spirit of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity in 2001; at the same time, he emphasized that it is of great significance that this theme is being discussed in a country with a great and long-standing culture, a country where the spirit of national unity, the desire for peace, and the fight against injustice were ignited and promoted by the October Revolution 100 years ago.

The National Assembly Chairman said that Vietnam is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. In the history of building and developing the country, ethnic groups and religions have lived together in harmony, developed together, built a common culture of the nation, and preserved and promoted their own cultural, linguistic and religious identities. The spirit of solidarity, respect, trust and mutual assistance for mutual development.

The 54 ethnic groups of Vietnam have created the strength of the great national unity bloc, a great driving force for Vietnam to overcome all difficulties and challenges, gain victory in the resistance war to protect independence, sovereignty and build a sustainably developed country as it is today.

In Vietnam, the right to equality among ethnic groups and religions is affirmed in all Constitutions. In 2013, the Vietnamese National Assembly passed a new Constitution, which continued to affirm that Vietnam is a unified nation of ethnic groups living together.

All ethnic groups are equal, united, respect and help each other to develop together. All acts of discrimination and division among ethnic groups are strictly prohibited. The State implements a policy of comprehensive development and creates conditions for ethnic minorities to promote their internal strength and develop together with the country.

The National Assembly Chairman also stated that the Vietnamese State always has policies to support ethnic minorities in order to create conditions for them to develop equally and gradually narrow the development gap between ethnic groups. All religions are equal before the law, religious beliefs are respected and given conditions to develop.

In particular, the Vietnamese National Assembly passed the Law on Belief and Religion in 2016, and regularly monitored the Government's activities in implementing important policies to ensure the right to participate in legal activities of all people, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

In the process of international integration, religious organizations in Vietnam are constantly expanding foreign relations with religions and religious organizations around the world and many international religious events have been held in Vietnam.

To promote diversity, culture and peace through religious and ethnic dialogue, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan raised a number of recommendations at the Plenary Session. The National Assembly Chairwoman suggested that the Inter-Parliamentary Union encourage member parliaments to actively build and perfect the legal framework to ensure equality of ethnic groups and religions before the law, create a solid legal basis to protect and promote national culture, religious freedom, and harmonize the interests of the people and the community with the interests of the country in development.

At the same time, strengthen supervision of the implementation of Government policies to protect people's rights and interests, and treat all social components from different religions, ethnicities, and cultures fairly and equally, thereby contributing to strengthening the great national unity bloc.

Along with that, it is necessary to actively review and eliminate discriminatory laws and regulations, ensuring the participation of social components in the country's political, economic and social life.

The Inter-Parliamentary Union encourages countries to develop criteria for assessing the effectiveness of legal policies for ethnic, racial and religious groups to ensure equality and fairness for all in society.

Strengthen and improve the effectiveness of communication activities, widely disseminate the ideology of tolerance, spirit of cooperation, solidarity and mutual respect among ethnic groups and religions.

Strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation between countries and parliaments in the fields of culture, religion and ethnicity; jointly implement projects to raise awareness and the importance of multicultural and multi-religious dialogues around the world; enhance mutual understanding and trust, and strive together for peace and development.

The National Assembly Chairman also proposed that the Inter-Parliamentary Union strengthen closer cooperation with the United Nations mechanisms, international organizations and member parliaments in promoting initiatives and actions of legislators for peace, cooperation and solidarity among peoples, religions and cultures in each country and among countries in the world.

According to Vietnam+