Mr Son said that over the years, the Vietnamese State has adopted many policies to boost and ensure human rights in the country.

Vietnam’s great achievements in this field have been recognised and praised by the international community, especially when Vietnam presented and defended its National Report on Human Rights under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2009, he said.

The Deputy Minister also affirmed Vietnam’s policy of attaching importance to international cooperation and dialogues on human rights, as reflected by its participation in international human rights conventions and its cooperation with the Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

In that spirit, the Vietnamese Government has invited several UN special rapporteurs and experts to visit Vietnam in 2010 or in the following years. The invitees are all specialists in such human rights issues as health, education, food and poverty reduction, and the impact of foreign debt.

Vietnam’s preparations to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and to accede to the UN Convention against Torture were also covered during the workshop.