Viet Nam guarantees rights of ethnic minorities

The Ministry of Information and Communications held a conference in Ha Noi on August 22 to provide an update on Viet Nam's implementation of recommendations from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

Tran Chi Mai, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department at the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs announced that Viet Nam's combined 15th to 17th periodic report on the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) in the 2013-2019 period, was approved by the CERD at its 3035th - 3036th meetings in Geneva in November 2023.

Following the review, the CERD published its concluding observations on December 27, 2023, with 52 sections.

Comprehenive action plan for ethnic minorities

The Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs is developing a comprehensive action plan aimed at enhancing the implementation of the ICERD in Viet Nam and recommendations by the CERD.

The plan will be released at the end of 2024, targeting to ensure that ethnic minorities fully enjoy their rights in all aspects in accordance with Viet Nam's Constitution, laws, and socio-economic conditions of Viet Nam in general and of mountainous and ethnic areas in particular.

Specifically, the plan will focus on four key areas namely integrating CERD provisions into national legislation, enhancing the enforcement of regulations on ethnic minority rights, promoting ethnic minority rights through public awareness and educational activities, and strengthening international cooperation and reporting under the ICERD framework.

The plan identifies tasks to be carried out to align domestic laws with CERD standards, particularly in anti-discrimination and racial equality, improve the enforcement of legal regulations on the rights of ethnic minorities by enhancing complaint handling mechanisms and the exercise of ethnic minority rights in judicial processes.

It will reinforce policies that guarantee access to education, socio-economic development, and cultural preservation for ethnic minorities.

Public awareness campaigns will be held to promote understanding of ethnic minority rights and anti-discrimination including educational programs for teachers on human rights, training for law enforcement officers and officials in mountainous and ethnic minority areas, and legal assistance for ethnic minority people and residents in mountainous and ethnic minority areas.

Since defending the fifth CERD report, the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs has worked with relevant ministries to protect ethnic minority rights.

As of July, 2024, disbursement rate of the National Targeted Programs reached 44 percent of the year preset goals.

A comprehensive survey on the socio-economic development of 53 ethnic minority groups is also underway. Programs and policies on ethnic minority have been implemented with good outcomes./.