Vietnam learns from int’l experience in building women, peace, security national action plan

Experts shared international experience and proposed recommendations for Vietnam in the building and implementation of a national action plan to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda at a workshop on March 28.

The workshop, held both online and in-person, was jointly held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN Women. It is expected to help Vietnam deploy the outcomes produced during the time it served as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 2020-2021, as well as effectively carry out its international commitments to gender equality, women, peace and security.

Do Hung Viet, Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organisations, said the workshop would be useful for Vietnam's efforts to consolidate mechanisms and policy frameworks to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.

He emphasised Vietnam’s consistent guidelines and policies, and its remarkable achievements in the implementation of the agenda, especially the country’s UNSC membership and its efforts in completing sustainable development goals.

The women, peace and security national action plans have been rolled out in 98 UN member countries, helping to coordinate national efforts to promote the role of women and girl in the peace process, Hung said.

The official held that the coordination between the Foreign Ministry, other Vietnamese agencies and the UN Women in the research for Vietnam's national action plan will contribute to carrying forward Vietnam’s initiatives at the UNSC, consolidating legal mechanisms and frameworks, and affirming Vietnam’s strong commitments to gender equality in general, and women, peace and security in particular.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, said such a plan would support the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in enhancing the protection and empowerment of women across spheres.

It will also help to draw more attention to and increase activities in women’s security, including the fight against emerging challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, she added.

Flowers also commended Vietnam’s leading role in peacekeeping operations and ensuring humanitarian protection for women and girls amid conflicts and crises, noting that among 75 officers deployed by Vietnam to UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Central African Republic, 15 are female.
 
Elisa Fernandez Saenz, UN Women Representative in Vietnam, said the plan will help the Vietnamese Government identify priorities and opportunities in the future, and ensure integration and linkage among relevant policies and national strategies.

The UN Women and other UN agencies stand ready to support the Vietnamese Government and concerned sides in the process, she pledged./.