Secretary General of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association Jean-Pierre Archambault. —VNA/VNS Photo

PARIS — Secretary General of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association Jean-Pierre Archambault has stated that achievements in ensuring human rights in Việt Nam are undeniable.

In an interview recently granted to Vietnam News Agency in Paris as Việt Nam runs for a seat at the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2023-2025 tenure, Archambault said ensuring human rights was one of the achievements in Việt Nam’s renewal.

He recalled that in 1975, Việt Nam was a war-torn and poor country under embargo. But by 2010, it had become a middle-income country thanks to considerable strides during the renewal period that began in 1986. As a result, he said Việt Nam had been moving forward and entering a new development period toward a rich, strong, democratic and modern country.

The official stressed that in its development policy, the Vietnamese Government prioritised helping the poor, especially Agent Orange/dioxin victims.

He lauded relevant Vietnamese agencies for paying attention to gender equality and ensuring the rights of vulnerable groups like the elderly, women, children and the disabled. Việt Nam also actively joined the United Nations conventions to protect them.

According to him, the role of Vietnamese women has changed, evidenced by the election of many female deputies to the National Assembly. 

About the Vietnamese Party and State’s efforts to ensure human rights in the motto “Leaving no one behind”, Archambault emphasised that Việt Nam’s effective anti-COVID-19 strategy had been welcomed by the World Health Organisation and foreign media. In addition, the Vietnamese Party, State and Government offered free medical care and vaccination to citizens and supported disadvantaged firms and people.

Việt Nam’s contributions to the international community in human rights showed that the country had done a good job of ensuring the right to peace, national independence and the right to live. Over the past years, Việt Nam also actively joined humanitarian activities at the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan over the past years, which the UN and international community hailed. — VNS