Illustrative image (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn) The joint affirmation was made by Norwegian Ambassadorto Vietnam Grete Lochen and UNFPA Representative in Vietnam Naomi Kitahara at aworking session on April 15 to discuss gender equality in Vietnam, focusing on gender-basedviolence and GBSS.
Addressing the session, the ambassador said that the toppriority of the Norwegian Government is to strengthen and observe global standardson the rights of girls and women, including changing the preference for sons.
The Norwegian Government is working with many partnersand relevant parties, including the UNFPA, to deal with the problem on global,regional, and national scales, she said.
Lochen expressed delight at Vietnam’s pioneering role in dealingwith GBSS, affirming that close cooperation and a comprehensive approach are amongthe major measures for the successful resolution of the problem.
For her part, Kitahara acknowledged Vietnam’s progressin promoting gender equality. She also said that this progress should be furthersped up within the completion of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
She pledged to assist Vietnam and local social organisationsto hasten changes towards becoming a modern, progressive country where all womenand girls have access to the same opportunities as men and boys.
The working session was a chance for both sides to reviewthe three-year “Addressing Gender Biased Sex Selection and Related Harmful Practicesin Vietnam” project, which was launched in April 2020.
The project is being jointly funded by the UNFPA and theNorwegian Government, and implemented by the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and SocialAffairs, the General Office for Population and Family Planning under the Ministryof Health, the Vietnam Farmers’ Union, and the Centre for Studies and Applied Sciencesin Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents.
It aims to support the Government's ongoing efforts to fullyimplement approved legal and policy frameworks to end GBSS, and includes campaignsconducted through innovative approaches to change social norms and practices thatreinforce the preference for sons and the low value of girls, strengthening capacitiesin the media, implementing the fatherhood programme, and streamlining the country’scoordination mechanisms for GBSS.
Vietnam’s gender imbalance has rapidly increased inrecent times and stood at 111.5 boys per 100 girls in 2019, according to the 2019 Population and Housing Census./.
VNA
