The emancipation of women is the responsibility of the Party, the State, mass organisations, the entire society and every single individual, Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh said, adding it must be institutionalised in the Party’s policies and guidelines and the State’s legal system.

He was speaking at a ceremony in Hanoi on October 19 to mark the 80 th founding anniversary of the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU).

On behalf of the Party and State, the party chief warmly cheered huge achievements and progress the VWU has yielded over 80 years and praised those women and collectives who made outstanding and valuable contributions to the nation as well as the advancement of women.

He spoke of the VWU’s well performance of its role in representing and protecting women’s legitimate rights, as well as in uniting, mobilizing and instructing women to implement the Party’s guidelines and policies and laws, helping them constantly catch up with new requirements of the national construction and defence in the present period.

Reviewing the VWU’s development course, VWU President Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa underscored that the organisation has over the past 80 years grown into a mainstream socio-political organisation playing the core in gathering women of all walks of life and encouraging them to play an active part in the national liberation cause in the past and the current construction and defence.

She noted that the VWU has also worked hard to defend women’s rights to equality and democracy as well as their legitimate interests.

On the celebration, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan presented the Golden Star Order, the highest distinction of the Party and the State, to the VWU, in acknowledgment of the organisation’s extremely extraordinary services to the nation and Party’s revolutionary cause.

This is the second time the Golden Star Order has been conferred to the VWU.

Also at the event, the Vietnam Women Award 2010 was given to four collectives and 13 role individuals.

Since its inception in 2003, the award has so far been presented to 26 collectives and 57 women./.