Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Achim Steiner has congratulated Vietnam on many important achievements in human development it has obtained over the recent past, VNA reported Friday.

The UNDP released the 2023/24 Human Development Report, titled “Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Popularized World”, at the UN headquarters in New York on March 13 (local time)

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner (L) meets with Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang prior to the launch of the 2023/24 Human Development Report in New York on March 13. Photo: VNA

Steiner said at the launch that the world has gradually recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Human Development Index (HDI) has bounced back and stood at the highest-ever level since the report was first released in 1990.

However, he also voiced concern about growing uncertainties and conflicts in several regions, especially the worsening inequality and widening HDI gap between developed and developing countries.

The UNDP expected the new report will serve as a basis for policymakers worldwide to work out appropriate directions and solutions to cope with challenges and continue promoting human development.

In a separate meeting with Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, prior to the launch, Steiner congratulated Vietnam on continuing to obtain many important achievements in human development, which has contributed to the international community’s common efforts in settling global challenges and implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In the latest HDI rankings, Vietnam climbs eight places to the 107th position among the 193 countries and territories, remaining among the developing countries with a high HDI.

The ranking improvement is a result of the Party and State’s effective policies and strong efforts to foster economic recovery, guarantee post-pandemic social security, and create the best possible conditions for the development of Vietnamese people.

Illustrative image. Photo: VNA

Vietnam has been a member of the High Human Development Group since 2019.

The UNDP’s Human Development Report, released every two years, is compiled based on contributions by many experts from UN agencies, member states, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations. It analyzes human development trends and multi-dimensional impacts of the world situation. The HDI is considered one of the important criteria for assessing countries’ development and is widely used by researchers and policymakers.

Vietnam's global 2021/22 HDI value of 0.703 in 2021 remained essentially unchanged from 2019 (0.704), though the nation climbed two places in the global rankings, from 117 to 115.

With the approach of taking the people as the center, Vietnam has been working hard to protect and improve people’s livelihood and ensure people’s rights through development, while making sure that development is for the people and by the people.

Along with building a law-governed socialist state, Vietnam has been strengthening its legal system on people’s rights, with more than 90 legal documents passed in only four years, creating an important legal framework to ensure the rights of people and citizens in reality.

The people have also been put in the center of all socioeconomic development projects, programs, and strategies of the country.

In many years, the country has maintained high economic growth, reducing the multidimensional poverty rate to 4.3% in 2022, and strongly improving education, health care and housing services.

Progress in ensuring gender equality has been demonstrated with women taking over 30% of the seats at the National Assembly and People’s Councils at all levels. At the same time, people’s religious and belief life has been promoted with thousands of religious and belief events taking place annually.

Vietnam is one of the countries with the fastest-growing rate of Internet users in the world with 78 million users.

An outstanding contribution by Vietnam at the UN Human Rights Council in the 2023-2025 tenure is the proposal of the resolution marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which was approved by the council by consensus.

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