Ambassador Lê Thị Tuyết Mai, Head of the Permanent Mission of Việt Nam to the United Nations (UN), WTO and other international organizations in Geneva, addresses the meeting of the UNHRC. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Tuấn

GENEVA — The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on April 3 adopted a resolution drafted and proposed by Việt Nam to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA).

The resolution was adopted by consensus and co-sponsored by 98 states as of the end of April 3 afternoon (Geneva time), including the 14 co-authors (Việt Nam, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Fiji, India, Panama, Romania, South Africa, and Spain).

It is a highlight of Việt Nam in its first HRC session as a 2023-2025 tenure member.

At the opening of the HRC’s 52nd regular session in Geneva on February 27, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang put forth an initiative to commemorate the UDHR’s 75th anniversary and the VDPA’s 30th anniversary to work towards the targets and values of the two declarations, as well as the international community’s common commitments on human rights for all.

The resolution focuses on the importance of the UDHR and the VDPA while repeating their fundamental principles on human rights.

It reflects countries’ broad attention to commemorating the two declarations and improving the stature, role, and efficiency of the HRC and UN human rights mechanisms while emphasising the leading role of countries in ensuring human rights, the recognition of women’s participation, the role of international cooperation and solidarity, and the respect for diversity and inclusiveness in promoting and protecting human rights and participating in HRC activities.

The resolution also asked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to mark the UDHR and VDPA’s anniversaries, including a UN high-level event on human rights in December this year and a report on the celebrations to be submitted to the HRC’s 56th session in early 2024.

The UDHR, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948, is not an international legal document but serves as the foundation for building international human rights law, the documents on human rights of regional mechanisms, and the laws of countries.

It was one of the most important documents of the 20th century and December 10 was later designated as Human Rights Day.

The VDPA was adopted by UN member states at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993. It reaffirmed the UDHR’s values and clarified that the protection and promotion of human rights must be the top priority of each country and the international community. — VNS