Assistant to the Foreign Minister Duong Chi Dung (second from left) at the event 

In the spirit of respecting international law, independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, cooperation, and dialogue to protect and promote human rights, the Vietnamese delegation led by Assistant to the Foreign Minister Duong Chi Dung agreed on 21 draft resolutions.

The resolutions highlight shared concerns of the international community such as rights of old people, children, youth migrants, and indigenous people as well as rights to health, culture, and cultural heritage preservation, among others.

As regards controversial resolutions such as human right issues in Syria and Burundi, Vietnam cast a blank vote to reiterate its principled position of not supporting the approval of resolutions on a country-specific situation without its concurrence. This is also in line with the standpoint of multiple developing countries.

The 33rd session is the last of its kind of the UN Human Rights Council in 2016. It’s also the last meeting that Vietnam participated as a member from 2014 to 2016.

Over the past three years, Vietnam has proved to be an active, proactive and responsible member with a lot of initiatives and contributions that were internationally recognised.

VNA