Vietnam actively participates in building resolutions of the Human Rights Council.

On the afternoon of September 26, in Geneva, Switzerland, the United Nations Human Rights Council closed its 27th regular session after three weeks of active and exciting work, adopting 32 resolutions/decisions and four presidential statements.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Nguyen Trung Thanh, Head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam in Geneva, is the Head of the Vietnamese delegation to this Session.

The issue of Syria has always attracted the attention of the Human Rights Council. Pictured is the deprived life of Syrian people in Raqqa, under the control of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS). Source: AFP

During the 3 working weeks, with more than 30 general discussions, 9 thematic discussions and informal negotiation sessions, the Human Rights Council focused on discussing many important issues related to the enjoyment of human rights that most countries are concerned about: from the rights of vulnerable groups, especially issues of violence against children, deaths of children under 5 years old, the rights of children to participate in recreational activities, deaths of women in childbirth; rights of indigenous peoples and people of African descent; family protection; to the negative impacts of development issues such as environmental pollution and waste, foreign debt and the activities of debt relief funds for private profit on the protection of human rights, as well as the relationship between the use of mercenaries, modern means of warfare in current conflicts and the implementation of obligations and commitments to protect and promote human rights of countries.

The Council also discussed and considered reports from UN agencies on the human rights situation in Syria, Sri Lanka, and human rights technical assistance to South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Yemen, Central Africa, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Council also considered and adopted the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) reports of 14 countries.

As this is the regular session at the end of 2014, the Council also reviewed and discussed the annual reports of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the High Commissioner and the UN Secretary-General on the implementation of the Resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council at previous sessions.

Of the 32 Resolutions/Decisions adopted by the Council, 24 Resolutions and 4 Presidential Statements were adopted by consensus, thereby demonstrating the sharing of values ​​and similarity of views of the majority of countries on most traditional and emerging issues in the promotion and protection of human rights in the world.

In addition, the multi-dimensional discussion process at the 27th Session also clearly demonstrated the differences in viewpoints between countries and groups of countries with different levels of development and cultural and historical traditions on a number of issues such as: the role of non-governmental organizations, sexual orientation and gender identity, the right to development, the right to peace and the impact of foreign debt settlement on the implementation of obligations to promote and protect human rights of countries.

This is the third regular session and also the session that concludes the first year that Vietnam has participated as a member of the Human Rights Council. The Vietnamese delegation has been proactive, active, and made proactive, substantive, and constructive contributions to all discussion topics at the Session, thereby continuing to affirm to the international community the determination to promote and protect human rights of the Vietnamese Government, highlighting the policies, efforts, and achievements in ensuring and promoting human rights in Vietnam, as well as the policy of proactively and actively participating and contributing to dialogue, cooperation, and international integration in the field of human rights.

Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam, spoke on behalf of ASEAN at the opening session and many of his speeches at the discussion sessions were highly appreciated by the countries, especially on children's rights, women's rights, gender equality, history education, etc. The Vietnamese delegation also spoke constructively and objectively at the sessions reviewing the reports on the results of the universal periodic review of the countries.

Most countries, despite belonging to different interest groups and viewpoints, highly appreciated Vietnam's balanced, comprehensive and constructive approach to promoting dialogue and cooperation, respecting international law and taking into account the legitimate interests of relevant parties, as demonstrated through statements as well as the process of participating in negotiating draft resolutions on issues that are still very different, such as the role of non-governmental organizations, sexual orientation and gender identity, journalist safety, foreign debt, sanctions and human rights, a fair and democratic world order, etc.

As a member of the Human Rights Council, Vietnam has actively participated in the development and negotiation of resolutions/decisions, co-sponsored three draft resolutions on children's right to participate in recreational activities, promoting human rights through sports and the Olympics, and the right to education for girls.

After a process of participating in negotiations with many positive contributions recognized, Vietnam has participated in the general consensus to pass most of the Resolutions/Decisions/Declarations of the 27th Session. At the same time, based on the interests and stance shared with developing and Non-Aligned countries, Vietnam voted in favor of 7 resolutions on: sanctions and human rights, the right to development, the right to peace, the use of mercenaries, foreign debt and the activities of debt relief funds for private gain, a fair and democratic world order. Regarding the draft on sexual orientation and gender identity, Vietnam voted in favor on the basis of considering the draft content in a constructive and balanced manner, supporting the elimination of violence and anti-discrimination, as well as considering the situation, practice and laws of Vietnam.

Vietnam's participation at this Session once again affirms its positive and responsible attitude towards the common work of the Human Rights Council in the spirit of dialogue and cooperation, contributing to ensuring that the activities of the Human Rights Council are consistent with the founding documents, the basic principles of the UN Charter and international law, meeting the concerns and trust of countries as well as the domestic public in Vietnam's role and participation at the Human Rights Council.

According to Vietnam+