Vietnam promotes women’s participation in policy-making process

While Viet Nam’s Gender Development Index shows that the country is making progress closing the gap in gender inequality, in the area of women’s leadership, the rates in the public sector are low.

In areas inhabited by ethnic minority groups, leaders must consist of ethnic people in line with the local population structure.

There will be an enhancement in training and raising public awareness of gender equality, along with the roles of women, moving forward.

Vietnam has a number of policies in place that promote women’s political leadership, such the Law on Gender Equality (2006) and the National Strategy on Gender Equality (2011-2020).

Although the proportion of female leaders is higher at the local level, People's Councils will also not achieve the target of 35 percent women’s representation without significant efforts.

Gender stereotyping is a major barrier to women standing for office and becoming political leaders.

both men and women often prefer male leaders, and men are seen as more suitable for leadership positions because of the view that masculine characteristics are similar to the characteristics of a good leader.

In an effort to address these gender stereotypes, Oxfam has implemented a multi-stakeholder project since 2014 to advocate for more active participation of women in political leadership in Vietnam.

The objective is to ensure that the National Committee for the Advancement of Women, selected media outlets, gender organisations and networks, and the general public actively challenge gender stereotypes on women’s political leadership.

Work with youth to engage them on gender equality, rights of women, roles of men in child care and home management and roles of women as leaders in the workplace and community.

Women do make up the majority of the civil service, yet their positions
are primarily in supportive roles rather than directive and decision-making positions.

If Viet Nam is to reach its target of 35-40%2 women’s representation in parliament and for women to hold key leadership positions in government agencies, political will is essential for effective programmes to be implemented.

Women make up half of the population and therefore it is their right to have half of all decision-making positions.

Women need to be in positions of influence to bring these experiences and perspectives forward.

Women and men have different interests and it is more effective and legitimate if each group represents their own interests.

It is important to look at the current state of women’s representation at different levels in the legislative and administrative arenas.

The implications of having a low percentage of women members in the Party is that there is a small pool of women to put forward for leadership positions in administrative government and as candidates for elections.

Implement awareness raising campaigns targeted at senior officials of the Party and government arguing the importance and effectiveness of having an equal level of women in senior decision making positions and suggest best practices for increasing the number of women in senior level positions.

Carry out innovative awareness raising campaigns for the general public on the importance of women in decision-making positions, showcasing prominent women leaders in Viet Nam and Asia and arguing the benefits when women have leadership roles.

Their attitude towards gender equality determines whether gender equality policies are observed and enacted.