The 11 th National Women’s Congress opened in Hanoi on Mar. 12 under the theme of “Solidarity-Creativity-Integration-Development”.

As many as 979 delegates representing millions of officials and members of the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) nationwide participated in the congress.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong attended the opening ceremony, praising women’s great contributions to national construction and defence.

He urged the VWU to continue conducting campaigns and improving their quality to promote the potential and creativity of women and to attract them to constructing and defending the fatherland and proactively solving their problems.

The Party chief put special stress on the responsibility of women in their families to educate future generations for the nation.

He asked the VWU to constantly renew its operations and organisation to bring into full play its key role in mobilising women and effectively meeting demands of women in all walks of life.

The Party leader stated that women-focused work is the responsibility of the whole political system, the society and each family.

Party organisations at all levels, authorities and sectors need to study viewpoints and targets of women’s work in the new situation for building practical programmes and action plans to obtain effective changes in the work as well as pay attention to building and strengthening organisations and raising the efficiency of VWU chapters, he said.

The leader also reminded Party and State agencies, mass and social organisations and the media to accelerate dissemination and education to raise people’s awareness on gender and gender equality.

VWU Vice President Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy delivered the union’s report, affirming that the union has followed the role, tasks and aspiration of women and played a key role in women’s work and the cause of gender equality.

The VWU’s chapters have mobilised women from all walks of life to engage in socio-economic development, building the Party and authorities purely and strongly and contributing to maintaining political security and social order.

In the 2012-2017 tenure, the VWU will focus its campaigns and operations on uniting and mobilising women to tap their internal strength, proactively take part in socio-economic development and national defence, build happy families, and improve women’s spiritual and material lives.

The union also plans to make its organisation strong to perform its key role in women’s work and implementation of gender equality.

Breakthroughs will be made in mobilising women to develop production, practise thrift and reduce poverty; building regulations on the union’s responsibilities in women’s work and policies on developing female resources; and raising the quality of the union’s official line, especially at the central and grassroots levels.-VNA