Co-organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Moroccan Parliament, the conference brought together more than 700 delegates including speakers and members of parliament, religious leaders, representatives of civil society and other experts .
Speaking at the plenary session with the theme "Parliaments and religious leaders: Promoting dialogue, working together for our common future”, the head of the Vietnamese delegation affirmed Vietnam's consistent policy on ensuring the right to freedom of belief and religion, solidarity and harmony among religions, equality and non-discrimination on the grounds of religion, as stipulated in the nation's Constitution and the Law on Beliefs and Religion.
He also briefed participants on Vietnam's important achievements in guaranteeing and promoting human rights in general, including the right to freedom of belief and religion, the active participation of religions in education, health care, social protection and charitable activities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of National Assembly deputies who are religious dignitaries.
Phong suggested that parliaments, as well as religions, promote cooperation, dialogue and information sharing mechanisms to improve understanding and build mutual trust and respect, and explore peaceful solutions to conflicts as well as global challenges; strengthen parliamentary diplomacy with the IPU playing the central role as the global parliamentary organisation to promote peace and understanding through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action.
He called for speeding up the implementation of the contents of the IPU's 2012 Québec Declaration on Citizenship, Identity and Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the Age of Globalisation as well as the 2017 St. Petersburg Declaration on promoting cultural diversity and peace through dialogue between religions and between peoples.
The Vietnamese representative said that the National Assembly of Vietnam will host the ninth IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians in September which aims to boost the role of young parliamentarians in the implementation of sustainable development goals through digital transformation and innovation and invited parliaments of countries to send delegates to the event.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Vietnamese delegation had meetings with IPU President Duarte Pacheco and IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong to discuss promoting cooperation between the National Assembly of Vietnam and IPU, including the organisation of the ninth IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians. The IPU leaders affirmed their support for Vietnam, expressing their belief that the country would continue to actively participate in IPU activities.
The head of the Vietnamese delegation also had meetings with delegations from UK, Austria, Tanzania, Indonesia and Thailand.
