Orientation of research, education and guarantee and protection of human rights in the new era

Photo caption — Comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Chairman of the Central Council of Theory delivered the opening speech and introduced the workshop.

The workshop has special political and social significance as it takes place at a time when the entire Party, people and army are actively contributing ideas to draft documents to be submitted to the 14th National Congress of the Party; in particular, recently, Vietnam was elected for the third time by the United Nations General Assembly as a member of the Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 term, with a record number of votes of 180/190 - among the countries with the highest confidence rate.

In his opening speech and introduction to the workshop, Politburo member, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council Nguyen Xuan Thang affirmed that the issue of promoting the human factor, taking people as the center, respecting, ensuring and protecting human rights and citizens' rights continues to be affirmed with the core position, the center of all national development strategies, the principle, the ultimate goal and the strongest endogenous driving force of the comprehensive national innovation in the new era of national development.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang said that the high trust of the international community is not only an outstanding foreign victory, but also a strong affirmation of the position, international prestige and consistent, strong commitments of the Vietnamese State in promoting and protecting human rights values. This success is a vivid demonstration of the effectiveness of the humane, democratic, creative, inclusive and sustainable development domestic policy that our Party, State and people have steadfastly inherited, supplemented and developed throughout the journey of national renewal.

According to comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang: "In parallel with that strong international mark, domestically, after nearly 8 years of persistent implementation of the Project "Incorporating human rights content into the education program in the national education system", we have been reaping many positive results, marking a new, breakthrough step in raising awareness and forming a culture of human rights and human rights civilization through education. In the current context, non-traditional global challenges are reshaping the concept and scope of human rights. Now, we are not only talking about the right to life, the right to freedom, the right to pursue happiness and the right to development, but also facing new rights, very typical of the digital age, such as the right to personal data, the right to be forgotten, the right to fair access to technology, the right to be protected from manipulation of fake information. These are core issues that modern humanity is facing with an unprecedented scale and complexity".

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Thang said that after nearly 40 years of renovation, our country has achieved great and historic achievements. The material and spiritual life of the people has been significantly improved, human rights and civil rights have been continuously expanded and implemented in a more substantial manner. However, in the process of rapid and sustainable national development and deep international integration, new challenges regarding social justice, regional disparities, population aging, cyber security, social security and institutional quality continue to pose many new requirements, requiring more substantive and effective solutions. In particular, the two-level local government model following the motto of integrity, creation, serving people and businesses, building and perfecting local governments for the people, close to the people, close to the grassroots has been implemented, opening up many opportunities but posing very high requirements for ensuring human rights right from the grassroots level. Building an honest government that serves the people is not simply administrative reform but is the highest and most substantial form of realization and guarantee of human rights in daily life, a vivid expression of socialist democracy.

The workshop focused on clarifying three groups of issues: Theoretical research on human rights; human rights education; ensuring and protecting human rights in practice.

The articles and opinions discussed at the workshop emphasized that promoting theoretical research on human rights must originate from the cultural and ethical values of the nation "taking people as the root"; proactively and selectively absorbing and creatively applying universal human rights values of humanity. The focus is on clarifying the dialectical relationship between human rights, civil rights and state power; between democracy and human rights; between individual freedom and social responsibility, in order to establish optimal harmony between personal interests and national and ethnic interests. Research needs to continue to affirm and enrich the content, nature and socialist orientation of Vietnamese human rights (socialist human rights); clarify new thinking and awareness of the new socialist human development model, closely following the guiding spirit of General Secretary To Lam: "Humans and human rights are the center, goal, subject and driving force of national development".

In the current context, research also needs to anticipate the trend of digital transformation, study new issues such as the right to protect personal data in cyberspace, the right to be protected from information manipulation, the right to create in the digital environment, the right to enjoy the fruits of technology fairly, etc.

Opinions also pointed out that human rights education is the most fundamental, fundamental and sustainable way to popularize knowledge, form and spread human rights culture throughout society. Project 1309/QD-TTg is a historic breakthrough, for the first time integrating human rights into the national education program in a systematic, methodical and clear roadmap. Delegates focused on clarifying the orientation of human rights education at all levels and implementing the strategy: Identifying the Human Rights Education Program as an official program in the national education system; building the human rights subject as an independent subject in educational and training institutions and completing the implementation of human rights content in higher education institutions in the 2025-2026 school year.

Ensuring, protecting and promoting human rights is a continuous task and a noble mission of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The presentations emphasized that in the coming period, it is necessary to continue focusing on a number of strategic orientations: Continuing to improve institutions and laws; ensuring human rights in a socialist-oriented market economy; strengthening the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups; promoting the role of society in ensuring and protecting human rights; promoting international cooperation in protecting human rights, fighting against erroneous, hostile views, and distortions of the Party's guidelines, policies and laws of the State on human rights in Vietnam.

The workshop agreed and reaffirmed the consistent viewpoint of our Party and State: Comprehensive human development is the center of all national development strategies; respecting, ensuring and protecting human rights is the solid foundation of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's rule of law state; human rights education is the inevitable path to successfully building a modern, democratic and humane political culture.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/viet-nam-ky-nguyen-moi/dinh-huong-nghien-cuu-giao-duc-va-bao-dam-bao-ve-quyen-con-nguoi-trong-ky-nguyen-moi-20251117152639232.htm