Two women with outstanding achievements in natural sciences will be presented with the Kovaleskaya Prize on March 8 as one of Vietnam’s practical celebrations of International Women’s Day.

Deputy President of the Vietnam Women’s Union Hoang Thi Ai Nhien released the information at a press briefing in Hanoi on February 28. She named Dr. Luong Chi Mai, Deputy Rector of the Institute of Information Technology under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, and Dr Nguyen Thi Loc, Head of the Insect Ecology and Biological Prevention Section under the Mekong Delta Rice Institute, as prize recipients.

Named after Russia’s great mathematician and advocate of women’s rights, Sofia Kovalevskaya, the prize aims to boost Vietnamese women’s advancement and encourage them to contribute to the national industrialisation and modernisation.

Also on this occasion, the Yellow Rose Prize award ceremony will be held to honour successful businesswomen, who also contributed considerably to the socio-economic development.

During Vietnam Women’s Week, from March 1-8, there will be several major events, including the presentation of the project, “Single women in Tan Minh” and a mass meeting to mark International Women’s Day where participants will share experiences in combating domestic violence after four years of implementing the relevant law.

Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee will work with Vietnam Television in producing a film on Vietnamese women and their organisation. The union is busy preparing for the first congress of the Intellectual Women Association while raising funds to build houses for poor, single and disadvantaged women./.