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| Mr. Jean-Pierre Archambault (Photo: NDO) |
According to Mr. Jean-Pierre Archambault, in order to appreciate the outstanding efforts in taking care of the lives and ensuring the rights of people in Vietnam, it is necessary to look back at the past historical periods in Vietnam.
He said that being devastated after 30 years of war, Vietnam was in a state of extreme poverty, experiencing many hardships due to the embargo until 1994.
Despite the historic victory against the two great powers France and the United States, Vietnam suffered enormous losses. The country was devastated and millions of people were victims of Agent Orange/dioxin sprayed by the US army.
Vietnam has been resilient to overcome all challenges and difficulties, conducting the doi moi process since 1986. Since then, people's lives and interests have been getting better and better.
He emphasized that the figures demonstrate remarkable progress in Vietnam. The poverty rate decreased from 58% in 1993, to just 5% in 2015. Per capita income per year was USD2,300 in 2017, compared with USD400 in 2000. In 2010, Vietnam lifted itself from the group of poor countries to join the group of middle-income countries (USD2,100 per person per year).
As can be seen, Vietnam has taken a very long step and is transitioning to a new stage of development to become a rich, strong, democratic and modern country. All fields in Vietnam have new achievements and progress. The rights of the Vietnamese people are better and better guaranteed.
For concrete evidence, it can be seen that during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, when Vietnam implemented the policy of "leaving no one behind", the French press itself had many articles praising the pandemic prevention and control work, and the protection of people's health by the Party and State of Vietnam.
Vietnam has made efforts to ensure people's rights such as free medical examination and treatment, vaccination against disease, and support for businesses and people to overcome difficulties caused by the pandemic. Gender equality is also always a concern, and there are many policies to take care of the elderly, women, children and people with disabilities. Vietnam also actively participated in UN conventions to protect these groups of people.
Mr. Jean-Pierre Archambault highly appreciated the policy of promoting and facilitating women to take up important positions in central and local agencies. “We clearly see the development of the role of women in Vietnam, with many female politicians elected to the National Assembly,” he noted.
Since conducting the doi moi policy in 1986, Vietnam has taken the right directions both internally and externally, constantly promoting its role in the international arena. Mr. Jean-Pierre Archambault commented that Vietnam deserves this responsibility for the second time. “That shows that the international community highly trusts and appreciates Vietnam's capabilities,” he said.
Congratulating Vietnam on being elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2023-2025, historian Alain Ruscio said that the international community has clearly seen Vietnam's great progress in ensuring human rights, not only for Vietnam but also for the international community./.