Vietnam striving to promote women’s economic empowerment

More than 150 delegates from ministries, international organisations, research institutions, business associations, enterprises, and women entrepreneurs nationwide shared experience and called for initiatives and efforts for women’s economic empowerment in Vietnam, at a conference in Hanoi on May 10.

The conference “WeEmpowerAsia Journey” was organised by the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council (VWEC) under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (UN Women). It came within the framework of the programme WeEmpowerAsia funded by the European Union (EU).

A hybrid event (physical and virtual) aiming to share successful results and lessons after three years of implementation (2019-2022) in Vietnam, it provided authorities and enterprises with information and experience to replicate initiatives on women’s economic empowerment and promote equal employment, income and a decent working environment for sustainable businesses and society.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Women Entrepreneurs Council, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the conference reflects not only the imprints of the journey but also a great opportunity for stakeholders to discuss the sustainability of the project achievement as an element for the next journey to accompany and support enterprises and women entrepreneurs of VWEC and UN Women.

Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Representative of UN Women Vietnam, said while the achievements of the WeEmpowerAsia programme are promising, it is important to keep in mind that moving from commitment to action requires political commitment and intentional efforts from all stakeholders to enable women to fully engage, participate and benefit from the gender-inclusive businesses and working environments on equal grounds.

Le Thanh, Programme Manager of the European Union Delegation, stressed that it would be important to ensure that women equally contribute to and benefit from the dual green-digital transition process of Vietnam, in the post-pandemic context.

The programme “Promoting Economic Empowerment of Women at Work in Asia” (WeEmpowerAsia) is a collaborative effort between UN Women and the EU, funded under its Partnership Instrument, implemented 2019-2022, in partnership with Vietnam Women Entrepreneur Council, Agency for Enterprise Development, Assistance Centre for SMEs in the North of Ministry of Planning and Investment, Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs of Ministry of Labour-Invalid and Social Affairs, and Vietnam Women's Academy of Viet Nam Women’s Union.

After the three-year implementation, WeEmpowerAsia has achieved numerous key results. Notably, it has strengthen the capacity of 3,323 women-owned enterprises to adapt and manage business to COVID-19 and the new normal.

The programme has built a web-based gender responsive enterprise assessment tool for SMEs in the portal of Agency for Enterprise Development, and opened 15 e-learning courses on business management and leadership skills for businesswomen on the E-learning Platform of The Assistance Centre for SMEs in the North, with 7,700 women receiving the training.

It has also lunched 10 e-learning courses on women entrepreneur’s start-up and development on the e-learning platform of the Vietnam Women's Academy, benefiting 3,000 women./.