At the hand-over ceremony (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam has presented 5,100Dignity Kits to women and girls at risk of gender-based violence as a resultof the COVID-19 pandemic in the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City.
UNFPA Representative for VietnamNaomi Kitahara handed over the kits to Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers Union (VFU) CentralCommittee Nguyen Xuan Dinh at a ceremony in Hanoi on June 22.
Dignity Kits are a signature product of UNFPA'scomprehensive package of humanitarian assistance, and the June 22’s delivery of thekits was made possible in partnership with the Korea International CooperationAgency (KOICA), the Government of Australia and the Government of Japan. Theaim is to safeguard sexual and reproductive health and rights of women andgirls, mitigate the risk of gender-based violence, and protect the dignity ofwomen and girls adversely affected by a crisis.
Addressing the event, Dinh highly valued the support andcoordination that the UNFPA has given to the VFU in the fields of population,productive health, gender equality, and the prevention of gender-basedviolation against women and girls.
Last year, when Vietnam suffered from impacts of both the COVID-19 pandemic and severe natural disasters, the country received greatsupport from the UNFPA in Vietnam, KOICA and the governments of Japan andAustralia, he said, adding that the VFU received and handed over 15,707 DignityKits to women and girls in affected localities.
Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers Union (VFU) Central Committee Nguyen Xuan Dinh and UNFPA Representative for Vietnam Naomi Kitahara (right) (Photo: VNA) He pledged that the union will deliver the 5,100 kits towomen and girls in COVID-19 hit localities of Bac Giang (2,397 kits), Bac Ninh(1,438 kits), and HCM City (1,259 kits) as soon as possible.
He expressed hope to continue receiving support from KOICAand the Government of Japan in enhancing capacity for the union’s officials insupporting Vietnamese farmers to sell their products.
For her part, Naomi Kitahara said that since the 1990s, theUNFPA has provided the Dignity Kits to women and girls during humanitariancrisis across the world.
“We must ensure that all women and children in Vietnam,including those most vulnerable such as in COVID-19 context, live a life freeof violence, and support for them should be prioritized as part of the COVID-19response”, she said, adding that it isabout making sure that everyone is part of the country’s sustainabledevelopment process, leaving no one behind./.
