With a view to contributingfurther to the joint efforts of the international community in promotingand protecting human rights across the world, Vietnam has enhanced itsinternational cooperation and joined bilateral and multilateral forumsin the field, while making every effort to ensure basic human rights arerespected. The country has always affirmed its commitmentand demonstrated its determination and responsibility to ensure theenforcement of human rights. According to Vietnam’snational report on human rights under the UN Human Rights Council’sUniversal Periodic Review (UPR), Vietnam submitted and presented anumber of reports on its implementation of several conventions such asthe International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of RacialDiscrimination in 2000-2009; the Convention on the Right of theChild (CRC) in 2008-2011, the Convention on the Elimination of all Formsof Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The country isworking on a report on the implementation of the International Covenanton Civil and Political Rights. Generally, Vietnam has fulfilled reportsfor conventions in which it is a member. Vietnam is now amember of the eight most important international conventions on humanrights, while participating in 18 conventions of the InternationalLabour Organisation. In the process of implementing internationalconventions in the field, Vietnam has reviewed the country’s legalregulations on civil and political rights. The review, whichwas conducted in about 80 percent of agencies at all levels, showedthat civil and political rights mentioned in international conventionsjoined by Vietnam, were stipulated thoroughly and consistently in thecountry’s Constitution and many other important legal documents. In the time to come, the country will continue reviewing thecountry’s legal regulations on economic, cultural and social rights, andthe rights of vulnerable groups. In a recent interview withVietnam News Agency correspondents, Pratibha Mehta, UN ResidentCoordinator in Vietnam, noted that Vietnam has actively taken part ininternational mechanisms, which monitor issues related to human rightsworldwide, including the accordance between governments with coretreaties on human rights. The country has constantly exertedefforts to better its legal and judicial system, while building alaw-governed State and strengthening national institutions to protecthuman rights, she added. Several special reporters of theHuman Rights Council have visited Vietnam over the past time, andthrough their fact-finding tours to Vietnam’s localities, they spokehighly of the cooperative spirit, the political resolve and policies andmeasures of the country to ensure human rights. They also pointed outchallenges that the country has to solve to better ensure human rights. On the regional scope, Vietnam and other ASEAN membercountries have made positive contributions to establishing the ASEANInter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), the ASEANCommission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women andChildren (ACWC) and adopting the ASEAN Human Right Declaration. It also participated in the Coordinated Mekong MinisterialInitiative against Trafficking (COMMIT), while working closely with UNorganisations and signing bilateral cooperation agreements with manycountries to enhance the effectiveness of human trafficking preventionin the region. Vietnam is also willing to join dialogues andcooperation programmes on human rights, which it considers as a goodchance to exchange views on common concerns. It has established regularbilateral dialogues in the field with several countries and partnerssuch as the US, European Union, Australia, Norway and Switzerland. The dialogues have proved their effectiveness, contributing not onlyto promoting understanding and relations between Vietnam and partnersbut also serving as a channel for exchanging their experiences andsolving many human rights issues of common concern. Accompanying Vietnam’s efforts, the UN Development Programme and manypartner countries have provided support for the country through theimplementation of projects to promote the enforcement of internationalconventions in the country in the periods 2008-2011 and 2012-2016, andmany other cooperation programmes to protect and promote human rights.-VNA