By IRNA-VNA
Ha Noi : The United Nations has committed to continued support to help Viet Nam to further implement its human rights commitments so that people from all walks of life will fully benefit from the nation’s development fruits.
The commitment was made on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day on December 10 and the upcoming 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be held next month.
“Viet Nam has made tremendous social and economic progress, and shown by ratifying several key international human rights treaties,” said UN Resident Coordinator John Hendra.
He said as Viet Nam rapidly moves to middle income status, it is important that future growth be as inclusive as possible all Vietnamese women, men and children fully benefit from the country’s progress.
“The UN system stands ready to both assist Viet Nam in meeting its international commitments and in its continued efforts to enable all Vietnamese people to enjoy their rights enshrined nearly 60 years ago in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he said.
Viet Nam is one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on of the Child (CRC) and other important international human rights instruments.
According to UNICEF Representative Jesper Morch, Viet Nam has made enormous progress for children but more work needs to be done such as creating formal mechanisms for participation of children whether on a macro scale at the national level or on micro scale in their communities, schools and families.
Viet Nam has recently taken an important step in complying with the CEDAW by passing the Law on Domestic violence.
United Nations Fund for Development of Women (UNIFEM) official Suzette Mitchell said that Viet Nam has progressed in complying with CEDAW, but in order to ensure that women, particularly rural women and those from ethnic minorities, are able to fully participate in political life, profit from education and health care services and be part of the labour market, Viet Nam needs to fulfill additional CEDAW provisions.
Viet Nam signed on October the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which is expected to help more than 5 million Vietnamese with disabilities participate more fully in society.