Opening ceremony of a training course on human rights for editors-in-chief, reporters, and editors of press agencies

Attendees of the event were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Loi, HCMA Vice President, Head of the Management Board of Human Rights Education Project; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuong Duy Kien, General Director of the Institute of Human Rights; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Dung Chi, former General Director of the Institute of Human Rights; Mr. Le Van Nghiem, former General Director of the Authority of Foreign Information Service under the Ministry of Information and Communications; officials and reporters from various press agencies in the northern region of Vietnam. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Loi delivers a presentation at the opening ceremony Speaking at the opening ceremony, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Van Loi said that to continue promoting human rights education in the new situation and carrying out the project well, on 21st December 2021, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 34/CT-TTg on strengthening the implementation of human rights content in the national educational system. One of the important requirements of the Directive is “…promote information and communication work within and outside Vietnam about the Party and State's attention on human rights education". He affirmed that performing these tasks well required editors-in-chief, reporters, and editors of press agencies to thoroughly grasp theoretical, legal, and practical issues on human rights. Therefore, the training course, which provided them with human rights knowledge, was a very important step in a series of activities of the project on putting human rights education in the national educational system. It helped reporters and editors to update knowledge and information on human rights and human rights education, thereby improving the capacity and promoting the role of the press in actively communicating human rights and performing assigned tasks well. The participants of the opening ceremony take a commemorative photo The training course took place in three days from June 13-15 with six topics: General introduction to human rights; International standards and mechanisms on promoting and protecting human rights; Identifying and fighting against distorted arguments on press freedom to protect the ideological foundation of the Party on human rights in Vietnam; Perspectives, policies, and laws of Vietnam on human rights and press freedom; Press skills and expertise to promote, protect human rights, and prevent human rights violation in Vietnam; and Rights-based approach in journalism activities. This is the second training course on human rights for editors-in-chief, reporters, and editors of press agencies in 2022. Earlier, the HCMA Executive Board of Human Rights Education Project organized the first one for those working in press agencies in the southern region at the end of May and the beginning of June. More than 40 reporters and editors of press agencies participate in the training course. Authors: Minh Hang & Manh Thang