Swedish Ambassador Ann Måwe joins students of A Tuc Primary and Secondary School in central Quang Tri Province in an activity to raise awareness against child, early and forced marriage. (Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Sweden) The activity was held as part of Plan International’s signatureGirls Takeover series in celebration of the International Day of the Girl(October 11).
At the event, Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Måwe let a girltake over her role as a part of Girls Takeover. “Girls Takeover” is aninitiative by Plan International to provide opportunities for girls toexperience leadership roles in various fields.
Swedish Ambassador Ann Måwe said, “each of these last four years,I have had the opportunities to listen to energetic and resourceful girls. Ihave met girls who are proud leaders of their communities, girls who are braveto challenge harmful norms and stereotypes, they all aspire to lead the changethey expect in a better world with gender equality. This is the reason we wishto support them and contribute to their empowerment.”
This year, H.T. Hau (Pa Co ethnic minority) and H.T. Hang (Van Kieuethnic minority), students at the A Tuc School, had a chance to take over thepositions of the Swedish Ambassador to Vietnam Ann Måwe and PlanInternational’s Acting Country Director Pham Thu Ba. They described to the twofemale leaders their and their peers’ struggles, namely child, early, andforced marriage. Hang and Hau also shared how they overcame challenges andtheir desire to create meaningful change to their community.
Hau shared her excitement to take the position of the SwedishAmbassador to Vietnam for the first time.
“Where I live, I have only seen female teachers and a vice chairwomanof the commune People’s Committee, and I have never thought that women could bean Ambassador, or an Acting Country Director. Today, after “taking over”, I amhonored and confident. I will do my utmost to become a helpful and capableperson, to strike for a better life for myself and others, especially girls. Iwant them to understand that girls and boys are equal,” she said.
Ambassador Ann Måwe and Plan International’s Acting CountryDirector Ba observed and participated in the A Tuc School’s activities to raiseawareness against child, early, and forced marriage and to introduce Em Vui, an online platform designed toempower the digital capacity of ethnic minority girls, boys and young women andmen (age 10 to 24 years) through improving digital literacy skills andknowledge of online safety within the “Protection of girls and boys from cyberbullying and gender-based cyber violence” project.
The platform promises to be helpful for ethnic students tounderstand their rights, improve online safety capacity, and be able to protectthemselves from potential harm, including human trafficking and child marriage,especially in a time when more children, adolescents and youth are using theinternet for learning and accessing services.
Plan International’s Acting Country Director Ba said, “we stronglybelieve that project activities including offline promotion events like thisand other online activities on Em Vui platform will not only improve the onlinesafety knowledge and skills of ethnic youth but also offer them opportunitiesof self-development so that they can be the change they aspire in the future.”
On the same day, Ambassador Ann Måwe also visited PlanInternational’s Sponsored Children, who were supported by Swedish donors./.
VNA
