VIETNAM, October 9 -  

GENEVA — Việt Nam made active contributions to the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which wrapped up on October 7 after four weeks of working in Geneva.

Speaking at various sessions, Ambassador Lê Thị Tuyết Mai, Permanent Representative of Việt Nam to the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organisation and other international organisations in Geneva, highlighted Việt Nam’s priorities and commitments in its candidacy to the UNHRC for the 2023-25 term, reaffirming the Party and State’s consistent guidelines and policies of putting people at the centre of the development and ensuring that they can share in the fruits of this process.

The ambassador also spotlighted Việt Nam’s efforts, commitments and achievements, as well as its capacity to contribute to the international community in the protection and promotion of human rights in the world; to promote dialogue and cooperation at the UNHRC in an objective and constructive spirit, in line with the UN's focuses and common concerns of the international community such as sustainable development, climate change response, protection and promotion of the rights of vulnerable groups, gender equality and the advancement of women.

Việt Nam participated in several joint speeches with other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the International Organisation of La Francophonie and the of Like-Minded Group (LMG) to discuss commonly-prioritised human rights issues, and took part in consultation and development of draft resolutions of the 51st session.

Việt Nam co-sponsored two annual resolutions on the right to develop and enhance technical cooperation, and build capacity in the field of human rights, thus contributing to promoting the priorities and interests of developing countries at the UNHRC.

Việt Nam’s is one of the three key countries presiding over the introduction of the UNHRC's annual resolution on human rights and climate change; and its candidacy to the council for the 2023-25 tenure.

This demonstrates the country's people-centred policy with strong commitments and efforts to promote and protect human rights, especially in the year marking the 45th anniversary of Việt Nam’s UN membership (September 20, 1977 – 2022).

The election of new members of the UNHRC for the new term, of which Việt Nam is a candidate, will take place at the UN General Assembly in New York on October 11.

Environmental, climate diplomacy

Ambassador Mai also attended and delivered speeches at two panel discussions of the Building Bridges Week (BBW) held in Switzerland from October 3-7.

Mai was one among speakers of the panel on “Insuring Nature to Reduce Risks – Risk-transfer Solutions for Coral Reefs” chaired by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Office in Geneva, and another on “Financing Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies” by the World Bank (WB) Office.

Mai introduced Việt Nam’s guidelines and policies in response to climate change, mitigate disaster impacts, restore and protect natural resources such as coral reefs. Việt Nam has committed to achieving net-zero carbon neutrality by 2050 as announced by Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November 2021.

Việt Nam’s socio-economic development plan for 2021-25 places priority on climate change adaptation, environmental protection, circular economy transformation and green finance for sustainable development, she said.

Mai said to address the impacts of coral reef degradation on the livelihoods of coastal people and to achieve the sustainable development goal (SDG) 14 on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources, Việt Nam has been implementing the National Programme on Sustainable Development, and the Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Maritime Economy by 2030.

The lack of financial resources is one of the most crucial barriers to the implementation of the SDGs, including criteria related to environmental protection and climate change adaptation in Việt Nam and other developing countries, she stressed.

On these occasions, Ambassador Mai expressed her thanks to the WB and UNDP for their great support and policy advice for Việt Nam in implementing the climate and environment agendas, as well as for development cooperation in general. — VNS