A/HRC/17/34/Add.1 establishing legally binding and enforceable rights and obligations in the context of social assistance is essential to ensure accountability and long-term stability. It would also help to ensure that beneficiaries are better aware of their rights, and that initiatives are not regarded as mere instruments of charity. V. International assistance and cooperation 97. Viet Nam has benefited from international assistance and cooperation over the last decades, having attracted significant recognition for its recorded development achievements. International cooperation will remain crucial, particularly in relation to the improvement of the legal and institutional framework for human rights and for the enhancement of social policies in general. 98. The independent expert also urges the international community to provide Viet Nam with the necessary funds to support climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. Such substantial funding should be separate and additional to pre-existing official development assistance (ODA) commitments. 99. In line with international human rights obligations,79 the independent expert calls on the international community to continue to ensure long-term predictability and consistency in the support provided to Viet Nam. On the other hand, the independent expert understands that the Government must continue its efforts to improve its management of ODA, ensuring that the resources received reach the most vulnerable groups and are utilized in a timely and effective manner. VI. Conclusions and recommendations 100. The independent expert recognizes and applauds the major achievements of Viet Nam in reducing poverty, improving living standards, and progressing towards the Millennium Development Goals. However, challenges remain, as highlighted in this report. As poverty is increasingly resistant to growth, and inequality remains stubbornly high, there is a need for more sophisticated and nuanced poverty reduction policies. The independent expert is confident that the Government of Viet Nam is able and willing to consolidate its achievements and overcome these challenges in order to ensure more inclusive development in the future. From a human rights perspective it is essential that the Government ensures that the benefits of economic growth are spread as evenly as possible across society. 101. The report includes detailed recommendations in each of its sections, but the independent expert would like to especially highlight the following: 79 22 (a) Strengthening further the legal and institutional framework: (i) The Government must strengthen its commitment to the protection of human rights though the ratification and immediate implementation of major human rights treaties such as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the International Convention for the Protection of All In particular the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, arts. 2(1), and 11 and Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 4.