“National Assembly deputies and five-year implementation of the Law on Gender Equality” was the theme of a seminar in Hanoi on June 5.

The gathering was co-organised by a group of NA female deputies, the NA Committee on Social Affairs (NCSA) and the Foreign Ministry.

Truong Thi Mai, head of the NCSA, said five years after the law came into effect, gender equality has drawn greater attention from the whole political system in Vietnam .

Gender equality has been inserted into many other important laws such as Law on the Elderly, Law on Persons with Disabilities, and the revised Labour Code, she added.

Participants agreed that progress has been made in implementing the Law on Gender Equality in all aspects of social life and family.

A number of targets set in a national strategy on gender equality for the 2011-2020 period have been reached after two years of implementation, they said.

According to NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong, Vietnam was one of the countries that early ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In 2012, the country was ranked third in the ASEAN region in terms of gender equality, she added.

A report presented at the talks said that at present, Vietnam is named in the group of countries with a high rate of female NA deputies in the region and the world.

Besides, social equality in the field of education has been much improved, benefiting more and more people, especially ethnic minority groups, poor children, girls and disadvantaged persons, it said.

Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, praised Vietnam’s efforts and results in enhancing gender equality and empowering women, saying that the Law on Gender Equality has helped create a synchronous and comprehensive legal foundation for the issue in Vietnam, the UN official stressed.-VNA