H'Mông ethnic minority people sell products at a market in the northern mountainous Lai Châu Province during Tết holiday. VNA/VNS Photo Quý Trung

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's efforts and achievements in promoting and protecting human rights are undeniable, international authorities on the matter have confirmed.

Việt Nam has achieved numerous advances in human rights, despite some international organisations and parties who don't support Việt Nam and give false information to lower the people's confidence in the Party's leadership and the country's prestige and position in the international arena, 

Some organisations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, Freedom House, and the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have regularly published reports on human rights in Việt Nam with a one-sided and unobjective view.

On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly to vote on members of the Human Rights Council for the term 2023 - 2025, of which Việt Nam is a candidate, several international organisations continuously distorted the human rights situation in Việt Nam in an attempt to prevent the country from becoming a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

At the conference at the end of September, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lê Thị Thu Hằng, "entirely refutes the false, inaccurate, and unobjective information" based on ill-preconceived notions that organisations have given about Việt Nam's human rights situation.

The Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress reaffirmed the consistent and thorough policy of ensuring and promoting the human rights of the Party and State.

Philip Fernandez, a member of the Canada-Vietnam Friendship Society (CVFS), has said that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Việt Nam, structures have allowed people to become equal members of a government body and economic conditions.

Political rights are one of the civil rights strongly promoted by Việt Nam and achieved good results. Việt Nam has continuously made efforts to internalise regulations in the process of perfecting the legal system, including the 2013 Constitution, the 2011 Law on Complaints, the 2015 Law on Election of Deputies to the National Assembly and People's Council, the 2015 Law on Referendum and the 2018 Law on Denunciations.

These laws help people exercise their political rights, participate in government building, and manage the State and society.

The questioning sessions at the National Assembly deputies have become regular channels of dialogue, contributing to the country's overall development.

Ensuring gender equality is also an outstanding achievement of Việt Nam, proven by the substantial rise of Vietnamese women, especially in the political field. Việt Nam is in the top third of countries regarding the proportion of women in the National Assembly.

Colombian Ambassador to Việt Nam Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Melo emphasised that Việt Nam had made great strides in implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals on gender equality and women's empowerment.

Moroccan Ambassador Jamale Chouaibi also said that the country was one of the most successful models in promoting gender equality. In addition, the representative noted that Vietnam was trying to empower women in remote, disadvantaged areas.

Efforts to protect the rights of disadvantaged groups and ensure living conditions for all groups in society are also the priorities of the State. A new World Bank poverty and equity report, 'From The Last Mile to The Next Mile' in April 2022, assessed that the poverty rate in Việt Nam had decreased impressively over the past decade. Moreover, many positive trends are emerging, in which the situation of the poorest groups in remote areas and ethnic minority groups has improved markedly.

According to the WB's low-middle-income country standard, the poverty rate in Việt Nam has decreased from 16.8 per cent to 5 per cent between 2010 and 2020, with over 10 million people getting out of poverty.

After four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Party and State have made efforts to ensure people's rights, such as medical care and free vaccination, ensuring "no one is left behind".

Rana Flowers, the acting UN Coordinator in Việt Nam and representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Việt Nam, said that with efforts to control the pandemic in the past two years, Việt Nam had become the standard in the world achieving among the highest vaccination rates.

Under the COVID-19 pandemic, Việt Nam is still considered to have effectively implemented the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The country ranks 51st out of 193 UN member states in terms of achieving sustainable development goals, with a score higher than the average of many countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Terence D. Jones of the Representative Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Việt Nam said that Việt Nam was in the top third of countries with the best progress in implementing the global target criteria in Asia on Sustainable Development.

At the end of this March, at the announcement of Việt Nam's voluntary midterm report on the implementation of Universal Periodic Review third cycle recommendations and announcing the country's candidacy to the UN Human Rights Council in the 2023-2025 tenure, Rana Flowers highly appreciated Việt Nam's commitment and efforts in promoting and protecting human rights.

Việt Nam's publication of its voluntary mid-term report, which provides a panorama of its commitments and efforts in maintaining socio-economic stability and ensuring human rights, especially among the vulnerable groups amid the tough COVID-19 period, clearly demonstrates the member country's responsibility, transparency and seriousness towards the UPR on ensuring human rights.

Thousands of Buddist followers flock to the Tam Chúc Pagoda in the northern province of Hà Nam for the Vu Lan Festival, which is held annually on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. VNA/VNS Photo Đại Nghĩa

In terms of the right to freedom of belief and religion, Việt Nam has gained remarkable results in perfecting the legal system and implementing policies to ensure and promote freedom of religion and belief.

The country has legalised the right to freedom of belief and religion with the 2013 Constitution. It has also recognised and granted certificates of registration of religious activities to 43 organisations belonging to 16 religions with more than 27 million followers, accounting for about 28 per cent of the country's population.

There are more than 8,000 festivals on beliefs and religions, with thousands of followers participating annually.

However, Việt Nam fights all activities that abuse the freedom of belief for superstitious or self-seeking purposes or violate the law.

In terms of press freedom and freedom of the Internet in Việt Nam, many foreign officials and experts highly appreciate that the Vietnamese Government effectively put the pandemic under control by updating the situation and guiding people to comply with measures via the Internet.

Journalist David Hutt specialising in Southeast Asian politics, assessed that when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, the Party and State of Việt Nam were very transparent and open in sharing and updating data on the COVID-19 situation. That is one of the reasons why Vietnamese people put their trust in the Government's measures.

General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng said that all the Party's policies and laws are for the benefit of the people.

This serves as the foundation for making remarkable progress in efforts to ensure human rights in Việt Nam. – VNS