The Working Group agreed with most comments that the Vietnamese government’s report and opinions of members of the Vietnamese delegation at dialogues with other countries had presented an overall picture with abundant information of human rights protection and promotion in the country.

The Working Group praised Vietnam’s outstanding achievements, especially in poverty reduction and implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

It also commended Vietnam for its active international cooperation in the field of human rights and expressed its hope that the country would further proceed based on its achievements in protecting and promoting human rights and share experience with other countries.

Addressing the Working Group’s session to adopt Vietnam’s National UPR report, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, head of the Vietnamese delegation to the UN Human Rights Council, reaffirmed the Vietnamese State’s consistent policy to place human sources both as the ultimate goal and the engine for development.

Deputy FM Minh said Vietnam’s achievements in the economic, political, cultural and social fields have been well recognized by the international community.
“Despite difficulties and challenges facing us, we are determined to press ahead with the policy of protecting and promoting human rights, guaranteeing the full enjoyment of people’s rights as well as respecting and delivering on the commitments under the international treaties that we have acceded to,” he said.

Minh said Vietnam welcomes and notes the interest that countries have voiced during the review session.

“Many issues of your interest have been dealt with in the Report of the Working Group as well as through the dialogues at the review meeting,” he said, adding that a number of others have been noted and will be seriously examined for response at a later stage.

The deputy FM, however, stressed some “unwelcomed recommendations”, saying they “fail to correctly reflect the reality in Vietnam and are out of tune with the specific conditions of Vietnam.”