ASEAN should focus its resources to meet urgent and basic human needs, including access to Covid-19 vaccines, food security, clean water, education, and jobs.

Vietnamese Ambassador to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Nguyen Thai Yen Huong gave the remarks during the online ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Interface with AICHR Representatives today [August 2].

Overview of the online meeting.

The meeting took part within the framework of the 54th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-54).

AICHR 2021 Chair and the representative of Brunei briefed ministers on AICHR’s efforts to protect public health and rights via humanitarian activities for vulnerable groups, including immigrant workers, women, and children against the Covid-19 pandemic, the fight against climate change, and economic cooperation.

AICHR also approved eight initiatives under the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), including the 2022 Priority Program.

In this regard, ASEAN foreign ministers welcomed AICHR’s efforts in pushing on its work in new normalcy, while taking steps to address human rights issues amid the fourth Covid-19 outbreak.

Ministers called for AICHR to continue cooperating with ASEAN bodies in integrating human rights into the ACRF and other initiatives of the bloc.

The main objective would be to ensure greater efficiency in protecting human rights in the region, focusing on improving living standards and people’s basic rights.

This is particularly significant for vulnerable groups that are severely affected by the pandemic, in turn contributing to the formation of the ASEAN Community that puts the people at its core.