Viet Nam Human Rights
Vietnam - Highlights for promoting gender equality
7/3/16
Nowadays, women
in Vietnam have played an important role in Vietnam's history.
They have served as warriors and nurses, mothers and wives. Their role in
society has changed over the years, they have undertaken versatile leadership
positions that redefine the women in Vietnam. They do so in an environment that
both empowers and disadvantages women through policies, cultural beliefs, and
societal norms.
Yes, women did participate in the revolution against the
French that occupied Vietnam. They served as nurses, guides, couriers, and
propagandists. Although they were not allowed in the regular army, they fought
in militia and guerrilla units on the home front. All Vietnamese know the
saying “When
the enemy is at the gate, the woman goes out fighting” - an old
Vietnamese adage. This character and spirit of Vietnamese women were first
exemplified by the conduct of the Trung sisters, one of the "first
historical figures" in the history of Vietnam who revolted against Chinese control.
After wars, in recent decades Vietnam has
stressed the importance of gender equality. The Vietnamese Government has
always attached importance to building and developing policies and programs to
promote gender equality and ensure women’s rights.
The
role of women in all walks of life has improved significantly in recent years,
especially in management positions. The country's efforts in ensuring gender
equality have been recognized by international communities who praise the
increasing number of women getting involved in politics.
By now,
gender equality and women’s rights have been institutionalized in a range of
legal documents such as the Law on Election of National Assembly Deputies, the
Law on Election of Deputies to People’s Councils, the Law on Gender Equality
and the Law on Marriage and Family. Vietnam
is one of the first countries to sign and ratify the UN’s Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at an early
date and have integrated its regulations in the country’s laws.
The country
has also launched a national strategy on gender equality for the 2011-2020
period with the aim of raising awareness, narrowing gender gap and enhancing
women’s position. According to the lawmaker, Vietnam has actively implemented
international and regional initiatives in efforts to push for the protection of
women’s rights and fight discrimination against women.
According to
Vietnam’s national report on human rights submitted under the UN Human Rights
Council’s Universal Periodic Review, the national strategy on gender equality
and women’s progress has come to regions and areas which see high inequality or
potential risks of inequality. The move has helped prevent and drive back women
trafficking and domestic violence while creating conditions for women to
improve their knowledge. The
Government has deployed solutions in terms of law enforcement and international
cooperation to surpass challenges regarding the awareness about gender
equality, and eliminate gender and domestic violence as well as gender gaps of
employment, income and social position.
Now, with women accounting for 24.4 percent of deputies in the 13th National
Assembly (2011-2016), Vietnam ranks 43rd out of 143 countries globally and
second in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Women have assumed many key leading
posts such as Vice President, Vice National Assembly Chairperson and Minister.
In addition, 14 out of 30 ministries or Government-affiliated agencies have
female deputy ministers. Many
women are holding key positions in local administrations, contributing to
handling important issues, adding that women have shined in other areas such as
business, education and healthcare.
Presently,
female workers make up 49 percent. By the end of 2011, female literacy was 92
percent and about 80 percent of girls at remote, far-flung and ethnic regions
go to school at the right age.
Thanks to
such efforts, Vietnam was placed 47th out of 187 countries in the UN’s Gender
Inequality Index last year compared with its 58th position out of 136 countries
recorded in 2010.
In 2014, the CEOs of Vinamilk and REE, and
the chairwoman of SeABank have been selected as three of the 48 most powerful
women honored in the 2014 Forbes Asia Power Businesswomen list.
Mai Kieu Lien, CEO of the country’s largest dairy producer Vinamilk, appears in
the list at the 23th place, while Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, CEO of the
Refrigeration Electrical Engineering (REE), and Nguyen Thi Nga, chairwoman of
SeaBank, stands at the 28th and 29th positions respectively.
Mai Kieu Lien, CEO and Chairwoman
of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint - Stock Company (Vinamilk) - Vietnam’s largest
dairy producer - was the only Vietnamese woman to be named among Asia’s 50 Most
Powerful Businesswomen three times by Renowned US business magazine Forbes. She
was described by Forbes as a dynamic CEO who has built the company into one of
Vietnam’s major enterprises and turned Vinamilk into not only one of Vietnam’s
most profitable brands but also a respected name across Asia.
At early March 2016, Forbes has listed Nguyen
Thi Kim Ngan, Vice Chairwomen of the National Assembly as the most powerful
woman in Vietnam. International experience shows that gender equality is a
win-win for development and for business and that it is possible to change
things and to get more women into leadership positions.
However,
Vietnam is still faced with an array of challenges such as low percentage of
ethnic women involving in leadership at all levels and high poverty rate among
minority groups.
The government will continue working to raise public
awareness of gender equality while strengthening international cooperation in
dealing with gender inequality, especially among disadvantaged groups and in
strategic realms such as education, healthcare and employment./.
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All comments [ 10 ]
Ensuring a certain ratio of women in the political system has been difficult.
many women are too resigned to their fate, thinking that they do not need to have professional degrees. Many think that having a good husband to rely on is enough.
In the past years, the Party and the Government have attempted to boost and take care of women's development through a number of legal documents in terms of gender equality and female empowerment.
Viet Nam has made significant achievements in terms of policies. Not many countries do that, even developed ones.
There are a lot of obstacles for a female offical. One problem is weak personnel management in Viet Nam.
I can say that the weak personnel management in Viet Nam has wasted a lot of talent and many contributions that women could have made to the development of the country.
We should change the concept of gender so that people understand what benefits gender equality can bring.
If possible, each leader or personnel staff of an organisation should have basic training in gender equality.
the most important factor comes from each woman. They have to change their conception first. They should not be afraid of the social preconception that they should sacrifice their own opportunities for development. They should fight for a stable position in society themselves.
thank for the policies of government that women have chance to joint many politic and social activities
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