Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang and Ambassador Lê Thị Tuyết Mai, head of the Permanent Mission of Việt Nam, to the United Nations (UN), WTO and other international organisations in Geneva, attended the high-level discussion of the 52nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 27. — VNA/VNS Photo

GENEVA — Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang attended the opening ceremony and delivered remarks at a high-level discussion of the 52nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 27 (local time).

In his speech, Deputy PM Quang said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA) on human rights are solid frameworks for the international community to jointly enhance awareness and action to promote and protect human rights, and that many important achievements have been obtained over the decades.

However, those achievements are facing increasingly fierce challenges such as wars, conflicts, violence, poverty, inequality and injustice, natural disasters, epidemics, climate change, environmental degradation, food security and water security-related risks, and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, he pointed out.

He took this occasion to express deep sympathies to the Turkish and Syrian people for their losses in the recent earthquake. He also informed participants about Việt Nam's concrete and quick assistance for the governments and people of the two countries.

Quang highlighted the determination, efforts, and achievements of Việt Nam – a new UNHRC member – in making reforms, boosting socio-economic development, ensuring social security, and safeguarding and promoting human rights, especially the maintenance of fast growth, the widespread coverage of health insurance, a rate of women’s political participation among the world’s highest, and the continuous improvement in the human development index rankings.

Underlining Việt Nam’s motto when joining the UNHRC – “Respect and Understanding. Dialogue and Cooperation. All human rights for all people”, the Deputy PM called on countries to understand and respect one another’s differences, stay united, hold dialogues, and cooperate to resolve global issues on the basis of multilateralism, international law, and the UN Charter.

He stressed the need to focus on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the commitments on climate change adaptation.

To ensure the full enjoyment of human rights around the globe, the UNHRC should play the central role in promoting constructive dialogue, equality, and effective cooperation among countries on the basis of mutual respect and understanding and with an overarching approach, according to the Vietnamese official.

At the discussion, Quang suggested the UDHR’s 75th anniversary and the VDPA’s 30th anniversary be celebrated with a UNHRC document to reaffirm the major and inclusive goals and values of those statements and the international community’s joint commitment for the sake of humanity. — VNS