Chairing the event, MoFA Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet said UPR is one of the most important mechanisms of the UNHRC. Its role is to review the human rights situation in all UN member states and thereby foster the full enforcement of their human rights obligations based on the principles of dialogue, equal cooperation, objectivity and transparency.

With a consistent policy of protecting and promoting human rights, Vietnam attaches great importance to the UPR mechanism and always seriously prepares its national reports as well as follows the recommendations that it has accepted in all cycles, he said, adding that Vietnam has officially submitted its fourth UPR cycle report, and currently, the full report in both English and Vietnamese has been published on the MoFA’s website. On May 7, a Vietnamese delegation is due to attend a dialogue session on the national fourth UPR cycle report at the UNHRC.

Among the 241 recommendations accepted in the third cycle, Vietnam has successfully fulfilled 209, accounting for 86.7%; partially met 30 others, or 12.4%. Two others are slated for fulfillment at an appropriate time, Viet said.

Highlighting notable points in the report, he said from 2019 to November 2023, Vietnam continued its efforts to build a rule-of-law state with the adoption of 44 laws, many of them are significant in terms of human and civil rights. The country also joined the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention No.98 and ILO’s Abolition of Forced Labour Convention No. 105. Vietnam also engaged in negotiations and formally joined the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM).

The report also presented several statistical figures that highlight Vietnam's development achievements in various sectors. Since 2009, its GDP per capita has increased by 25% while the poverty rate has been decreasing by 1.5% annually. Health insurance coverage has risen from over 81% in 2016 to 92% in 2022. The rate of households using clean water has reached 98.3%, up nearly 1 percentage point compared to 2018. The media, press, and Internet have developed robustly and become forums where citizens and social organisations can express opinions.

As of September 2023, there were 78 million Internet users in Vietnam, which marked a 21% growth from 2019. The number of mobile broadband subscriptions reached 86.6 million, up 38% from 2019. About 72,000 associations are actively operating in Vietnam, playing a significant role in addressing key socio-economic issues.

In addition to the significant results achieved, Viet said the report has pointed out the challenges faced by Vietnam and priority directions, such as increasing resources for sustainable and inclusive development, improving the efficiency of public service delivery and efforts to reform administrative procedures, effectively carrying out strategies on green transition and digital transformation; fully meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or expanding the social security system and narrowing the development gap between urban and rural areas, remote and mountainous areas, and raising public awareness of human rights issues.

Regarding the report preparation process, he noted that the report was carried out comprehensively and transparently with contributions from State agencies, socio-political, professional and non-Governmental organisations, development partners and citizens, and direct feedback at consultation workshops held by the MoFA, relevant ministries and agencies, and those directly sent to the MoFA.

Answering reporters’ queries about the UN agencies’ report that contains unobjective contents about human rights situation in Vietnam, Viet said one of the fundamental principles of modern international relations, which is enshrined in the UN Charter, is the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states. And one of the foundational principles of the relationship between Vietnam and other countries around the world is the respect for each other's political regime.

He also firmly rejected any opinions, proposals or recommendations that violate this rule.

According to him, all other reports from the UN agencies are neither conducted openly and transparently, nor fully consulted in the way that Vietnam has done its national report./.VNA