Empowerment and equality for women in all fields are
high priorities on the ASEAN agenda. However, in reality, there are still many
challenges in narrowing the gender gap in the
region and for each member country, said Ha Thi Nga, President of the Vietnam
Women's Union.
Speaking to the press on the outcomes of the freshly-ended 42nd AIPA General
Assembly relating to women’s empowerment, especially in
the context of the pandemic, Nga, who is a National Assembly deputy, said
difficulties and challenges are even greater in the context of the COVID-19
pandemic because women and children are still the most vulnerable.
According to Nga, the COVID-19 pandemic is posing many difficulties and
challenges for women in the field of information technology because they lack
technology application skills and have no experience working in an
international environment, while hidden dangers of social networks make women
and girls more susceptible to becoming victims of technology crimes.
It is necessary to have a mechanism to assist women in getting access to
information and fully understanding the State's support policies and create a
channel to provide information suitable to women's habits and conditions, she
said.
Nga also underlined the importance of having policies to help women to access
information technology to narrow the gender gap in the digital field.
The official highlighted the importance of solutions that ensure effective and
substantive participation and equal enjoyment of people in building the digital
economy.
To do this, she pointed out some key issues such as diversifying programmes and
communication methods to change people's perception of digital transformation
and digital economy; implementing training and supporting programmes for people
and businesses; and identifying shortcomings, difficulties, and barriers of
each population group.
Nga emphasised that the development of the digital economy must be a
gender-sensitive process, and narrowing the current gender gap must be
considered as a priority to ensure that women and men enjoy equal benefits from
the digital economy.
In addition, attention should be paid to ensuring that the female workforce is
equipped with essential knowledge and skills to access digital technology.
According to Nga, in the current context, AIPA member
parliaments need to cooperate more closely to be able to support women in
dealing with the problems of the pandemic, natural disasters, and the digital
transformation process to promote their contributions and creativity.
She also made several proposals such as prioritising and protecting women
against the pandemic, especially disadvantaged women and those on the front
lines against the pandemic.
Nga called for strengthening research on the impacts of COVID-19 on women,
adopting measures to coordinate and comprehensively support job opportunities,
start-ups, income, and family care for groups of migrant women, female workers
in industrial zones, and women-owned enterprises./.
All comments [ 18 ]
While balance is important for all workers throughout an organization, it is particularly relevant to women who – much more so than their male colleagues – are often expected to strike a balance between career building and homemaking, between bringing home a paycheck and bringing up the children, and even between compassion and ambition.
From a more practical perspective, gender balance means creating more equitable opportunities for women, particularly at the highest levels of an organization.
Gender equality in the distribution of economic and financial resources has positive multiplier effects for a range of key development goals, including poverty reduction and the welfare of children.
Historically, women's movements in Vietnam have not stood independently from nationalism or socialism, and feminist advocacy can easily get entangled in party politics or ethnocentric emotionalism.
Women continue to be absent from key decision-making forums shaping the allocation of economic and financial resources and opportunities, which further perpetuates gender inequality.
To advocate gender equality in Vietnam, it is necessary to revitalize and capitalize on this cultural identity.
For Vietnamese women to make a step forward: (1) the eradication of gender
inequality in all aspects of life, and (2) the improvement of the living
conditions of Vietnamese women, whether or not the agenda is set in the
context of gender disparity. I
Vietnamese women have the ingredients from their cultural and historical backgrounds to undertake the challenge of advocating gender equality in their country.
Public policies on gender equality must take into account the key and interconnected dimensions of economy, well-being and technology if they are to be capable of providing an ambitious and innovative response to the challenges of today’s society.
The gender perspective must cut across digital strategies for closing digital gaps (in access and, above all, in use) and resolving the specific problems, disadvantages and discrimination faced by girls, adolescent girls and women.
The gender digital divide and the second digital divide (which refers to skills, uses, intensity and advanced uses) compound other gaps.
The solution lies instead in changing the contemporary Vietnamese woman's self-image and upgrading her socio-economic and professional standing so that she no longer feels compelled to use the "junior" pronoun to refer to herself.
Mother Vietnam, in the image of the Awaiting Wife, is the "solidification" and "perpetuation" of a spirit that refuses to disintegrate, determined to reach eternity.
A basic understanding of Vietnam's economic history and condition is necessary to put women's issues into perspective.
Although women have a significant presence in the labour market, occupational segregation persists. It is a clear demarcation between market sectors and the jobs held by men and by women.
Women also have prominent roles in science and technology, and the percentage of women in engineering careers has increased in recent years.
Companies in Vietnam also have a role to play in pushing forward gender equality. Though the proportion of women in management positions has increased, it remains low in comparison with the increases enjoyed by women in the workforce generally.
As the country continues to progress, businesses need to promote awareness of workplace gender equality, first by re-evaluating their own human resource policies, and then by building a strategic plan designed to promote gender equality.
Your comments