Vietnam is paying more and more attention to institutionalising gender equality and women empowerment, said Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh at a plenary session of the second Eurasian Women’s Forum in Saint Petersburg of Russia on September 20.
Thinh stated that Vietnam has set specific targets in this field, including increasing the participation of women in management and leadership positions, narrowing gender gap in the economic and labour fields, offering more opportunities for poor women in rural areas and ethnic minority women, increasing the quality of female workers, and ensuring gender equality in all aspects and in the family.
The country has gained positive results, as seen in the rate of women holding positions in the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils reaching 26-27 percent, the rate of women participating in economic activities at 85 percent and the proportion of trained female workers at 55 percent.
Vietnamese women are taking the initiative and actively taking part in start-up and international integration, she added.
The Vietnamese leader appreciated contributions by the Eurasian Women’s Forum to connecting women from different nations and cultures in Asia and Europe, promoting women’s role in all aspects of social life, thus building a world of peace, security, prosperity and sustainable development.
She said that changes in the world situation such as the fourth Industrial Revolution and international integration have brought many opportunities to women. However, they are facing a lot of challenges caused by uneven development, conflict risks, terrorism, natural disasters, climate change and increasing protectionism.
This requires the international community, including the Eurasian Women’s Forum, to join hands to solve these challenges.
Vice President Thinh called on women around the world to take the initiative to boos economic connectivity and international cooperation, and improve their knowledge by themselves to avoid being left behind.
Every nation should consider the ensuring of gender equality and women empowerment one of the priority tasks, she suggested.
She also expressed her hope that women will expand international collaboration to contribute more to the implementation of sustainable development goals.
On the sidelines of the forum, Vice President Thinh met Georgy Poltavchenko, Governor of Saint Petersburg, who affirmed his hope to boost cooperation between the city with Ho Chi Minh City and other Vietnamese localities and contribute to the Russia-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership.
He shared that his city is working with the Vietnamese side to build a museum on the US war in Vietnam and a Vietnam trade-culture centre in the city, and is willing to share its experience in city management, information technology, health, ship building, manufacturing, environment and tourism.
The first edition of the Eurasian Women’s Forum was also held in Saint Petersburg in 2015.
This year’s forum, themed “Women for Global Security and Sustainable Development”, attracted about 2,000 delegates from more than 100 countries over the world./.
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Vietnam has done well to promote women's rights and balance the gender equality. So good for human rights record!
Viet Nam was undergoing a number of fundamental legislative reforms following adoption of its new Constitution in 2013 to secure the inclusion of women's human rights in Vietnamese laws.
These pivotal processes generated exciting opportunities for engaging with government and civil society and advocating for women’s rights and gender responsiveness.
Vietnam has fulfilled commitments under the Millennium Development Goals, and the transition to a post-2015 agenda was underway which would lead to adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals with a standalone goal on gender equality.
Gender equality and empowering women are always a consistent policy of Vietnam. The Constitution and the Law on Gender Equality of Vietnam recognized the rights of equality for both male and female citizens in all areas of society.
Over the last 20 years, we have seen the implementation and the role of parliaments in realizing those commitments in their countries through institutionalizing the nation's laws, creating an effective supervisory mechanism and allocating resources for implementation.
The meeting would become a forum for members to exchange their experience in converting voluntary commitments into compulsory regulations in their countries, as well as turning words into actions.
The women parliamentarians will be important factors in carrying out the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on gender equality.
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