The four-day meeting is the first in aseries of activities of the council’s 28th session, includinghigh-level working sessions, dialogues, and seminars, which will takeplace from March 2-27.
In opening the high-levelsegment meeting, leaders of the UN and UN Human Right Council underlinedthe challenges to the protection and promotion of human rights aroundthe globe, especially armed violence, social inequality, anddiscrimination.
They also highlighted the role ofthe council and the UN in addressing these challenges, and called uponnations to enhance cooperation and follow the recommendations of thecouncil and the UN human right mechanism.
Besidesthe high-level segment meeting, other thematic working sessions will beheld during the opening week focusing on human rights in relation to theUN activities and climate change, and the capital punishment.
In the following weeks, nearly 90 reports by UN human rightsmechanisms will be tabled for consideration. Five meetings will be heldto look into the rights of children and people with disabilities,anti-racial discrimination, the building of national policy andtechnical cooperation.
The UN Human Rights Councilwill also hold dialogues with UN human rights mechanisms on human rightsrelating to religious freedom, cultural rights, environment, foreigndebt, the rights to food and housing, the situation in several countriesand technical support for some nations.
Nearly 40draft resolutions on various issues of human rights will be introducedduring the session which will run until March 27.
Vietnam is a member of the UN Human Rights Council in the 2014-2016tenure. The country has also been re-elected as the co-coordinator ofthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at theinter-governmental body.-VNA