Vietnam has spoken highly of the practice of human rights in Laos during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Laos at the United Nations Human Rights Council on May 4.

Ambassador Vu Dung, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, WTO and other international organisations in Geneva, said, “As a close neighbour and traditional friend of Laos, Vietnam is happy to witness its major achievements in the protection and promotion of human rights, particularly in the areas of education, culture, job creation, public health, poverty reduction, transportation, communication, protection of women rights, children, ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities”.

Many UN member countries also lauded Laos for the great progress in reducing poverty and protecting the rights of the ethnic minority groups.

This was the first UPR for Laos at the UN Human Rights Council. UPR is a mechanism which subjects all UN member states to a scrutiny of their human rights record every four year./.