A workshop on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was held in Hanoi on May 22 as part of a project to step up the implementation of international conventions on human rights.

When addressing at the workshop, Assistant Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc underlined Vietnam ’s consistent policy of guaranteeing human rights for all its citizens.

He said that Vietnam has made a number of major achievements when working to fulfill its Millennium Development Goals and the country’s Human Development Index (HDI) and Gender-related Development Index ( GDI ) have increased steadily. These successes have also been widely recognised by the international community.

In recent years, the Government has tightened State expenditure but still prioritises its budget for social welfare, he added.

He said the workshop is an excellent opportunity for the participants to share information and talk about their experiences when implementing the Convention in Vietnam .

The workshop also discussed the regulations surrounding the covenant and how to regularly report back to the UN Human Rights Council on progress made when implementing the covenant.-VNA