Vietnam highlights human rights progress, calls for dialogue and respect for differences

Speaking at the opening session of the 52nd annual session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva (Switzerland) on the morning of February 27, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang announced Vietnam's strong achievements in the field of human rights, and called on countries to respect differences, promote dialogue, not politicize and impose, to join hands to solve global issues, with people at the center of action.

Opening his speech at 11:15 a.m. on February 27 local time at the headquarters of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva (Switzerland), Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang affirmed that 75 years after the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was born, humanity has made great strides in realizing aspirations for human rights, and has established international treaties and action programs for the international community to increase awareness and action.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that at this time, humanity is still facing enormous challenges, such as war, conflict, violence, poverty, social inequality, environmental degradation, natural disasters and epidemics, of which the recent Covid-19 pandemic as well as the historic earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria are a lesson. The Deputy Prime Minister also expressed the deep sympathy and sharing of the Vietnamese government and people to the governments and people of Turkey and Syria, affirming that Vietnam has made efforts to join hands with the international community to assist the victims of the earthquake disaster with both human and material resources.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang speaks at the opening session of the 52nd annual meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva (Switzerland) on the morning of February 27.

Referring to the progress in the field of human rights in Vietnam, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that Vietnam's election as a member of the UN Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 term is a great honor and Vietnam's baggage to the Human Rights Council is the nation's glorious history, proud achievements in innovation and economic development, the policy of always putting people at the center of the development process, along with the determination to shoulder international responsibilities on the basis of a foreign policy of peace, independence, self-reliance, multilateralization and diversification of international relations.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang also announced outstanding indicators of human rights in Vietnam in recent times, such as the GDP growth of 8.02% in 2022 despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and global economic instability; the health insurance coverage rate reached over 92% of the population. In addition, Vietnam is also among the top groups in the region and the world in terms of the rate of women in politics, with the rate of female National Assembly deputies over 30%. Although still in the group of lower middle-income countries, Vietnam still has a high human development index (HDI), increasing by 5 places in the period 2015-2021. With these achievements, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang affirmed that Vietnam is ready to make greater contributions to the international community.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said: “As a member of many important multilateral mechanisms, Vietnam is strongly committed to multilateralism, international law and the United Nations Charter, ready to act as a bridge to reduce differences and increase cooperation at the Human Rights Council with the motto “Respect and understanding, dialogue and cooperation, all human rights for all”.

In that spirit, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang shared Vietnam's perceptions of the current human rights situation in the world. First, according to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, every country has a common aspiration to promote and protect human rights, but each country and region may have a different approach, due to the specific characteristics of history, political system, culture, and socio-economy, so it is necessary to understand and respect those specificities to find a common denominator, instead of politicizing and imposing.

The Presidency of the opening session of the 52nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The second perception is that no country can solve current global challenges on its own, so dialogue and cooperation in the spirit of respecting international law and the United Nations Charter are the best ways to find common ground. Third, human rights are universal, so a comprehensive approach is needed to better ensure the enjoyment of the most basic and essential rights, such as the right to live in peace, the right to development, the right to access education, health care, etc. To ensure the good implementation of those perceptions, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that the role of a United Nations Human Rights Council capable of reconciling differences is very important.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasized: “The Human Rights Council needs to affirm its central role in promoting dialogue in the spirit of constructiveness, equality and effective cooperation among countries, on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. An effective, active, objective, harmonious and diverse Human Rights Council, without politicization and without division, will be the nucleus connecting the international community.”

Concluding his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said that he shared the message of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, that all countries need to make efforts to build a new social contract, putting people at the center of all policies and actions, and at the same time creating an opportunity for developing countries to have their say. The Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that with the high awareness and determination of a member of the Human Rights Council, Vietnam will contribute with the highest sense of responsibility to the work of the Human Rights Council, for a better future for all humanity./.