Vietnam has affirmed its strong commitment to the advancement of womenand gender equality as important instruments to achieve equitable andsustainable development, at the UN debate on Agenda Item 28: Advancementof Women in New York on October 14.
The following is the speech by Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Vietnam ’s Permanent Representative to the UN at the debate:
“ Mr. Chairman,
I thank the Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur for theirreports. I would also like to express our appreciation to the work ofthe UN Women and believe that under the new leadership of Ms. PhumzileMlambo-Ngcuka, the organization will continue to play a bigger role inpromoting gender equality and empowerment of women. My delegation alignsitself with the statement made by the Distinguished Representative ofFiji on behalf of G77 and China and the Distinguished Representativeof Malaysia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Mr. Chairman,
Thanks to the concerted efforts at different levels of theinternational community, important progress has been made in ensuringwomen’s rights. More countries are adopting new legislations on genderequality and mainstreaming gender equality into their developmentstrategies. Millions of women are now better enjoying their rights. Weare seeing a growing number of outstanding women in politics, economyand academia.
However, women all over the world are stillfaced with a number of obstacles that restrict their ability to playsignificant roles in the communities and society. The interconnectedimpacts of the current global economic and social crises, the continuingfood insecurity, climate change and energy crisis have impeded thedevelopment of all, but more so women and are threatening theachievements attained thus far.
In that context,Vietnam welcomes the upcoming review and appraisal of theimplementation of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and thepreparation of post-2015 development agenda as new opportunities to takestock of and further expand the scope of the work in the area ofwomen’s rights. We would like to highlight the following points:
Firstly, strengthening women’s rights and addressing barriers totheir political participation are critical to women empowerment, povertyreduction and achievement of development goals. Equal representationof women and men helps ensure that decision-making can better fosterinclusive economic and social development and benefit all people.
Secondly, engagement of women as full stakeholders has proven toenhance sustainable livelihoods of local communities and nationaleconomies. Empowering women to participate fully in economic life acrossall sectors is, therefore, essential to build stronger economies,attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially the MDG onpoverty reduction, and achieve development and sustainability.
Thirdly, ending discrimination and violence against women requires acomprehensive and all-inclusive approach. It is not the responsibilityof one person, actor or group. It is a collective response in whicheveryone has a role to play. Actions therefore need to involve allstakeholders, men and women, developing and developed countries,representatives from government, parliaments, the judiciary, lawenforcement agents, the private sector and international organisations.
Mr. Chairman,
Vietnam is strongly committed to the advancement of women andgender equality as important instruments to achieve equitable andsustainable development. Since the enactment of the Gender Equality Lawin 2006, the Government has adopted and implemented various policies topromote the rights of women. For instance, the Law against DomesticViolence was adopted in 2007. A National Strategy and National Programon Gender Equality for the year 2011-2015 with the total budget of anequivalent of 47 million USD are under implementation. A GenderStatistical Indicator System is collecting data that can better informpolicy making and programming. Gender is mainstreamed in all new laws. Arecent example is the Tobacco Law in 2012 which specifically obligatessmokers to avoid smoking near pregnant women and children.
Many innovative programs and projects are being implemented to improvewomen economic situation. With the support from World Bank and UN Womenin Vietnam, this year’s Vietnam Women’s Innovation Day was launched withthe theme “Economic empowerment and capacity building for VietnameseWomen” to support initiatives of economic empowerment for women that“think outside the box and act beyond existing predefined parameters andtraditional interventions”. Since 2003, this biennial program hasprovided some 2.4 million USD in funding for 231 women innovativeprojects.
Women in Vietnam have always been active inthe political life of the country. In recognition of the importance ofinvesting in gender sensitive leadership, the Center for Women inPolitics and Public Administration was launched last June to helppolitical leaders and civil servants develop their appreciation for theimportance of gender equality in inclusive socio-economic developmentand learn ways to promote gender equality through their work.
Mr. Chairman,
The above efforts by the Government, supported by many partnercountries and organisations, have produced very tangible results. 78percent of Vietnamese women are now in the labor force and account for48 percent of the labour force, and the numbers are increasing. Theliteracy rate for women and girls is 92 percent. Female students accountfor more than 50 percent of total enrolment in tertiary education. In2012, Vietnam ranked 3rd in ASEAN and 48th in the world in terms ofgender equality index; was among the 5 developing countries in Asiathat have the highest percentage of women members of Parliament. InVietnam , a certificate of land entitlement must bear the names of boththe husband and the wife to be lawful. And importantly, the issues ofgender, gender equality and gender-based violence have been mainstreamedin all social discourses and policy making processes.
However, Vietnam is still faced with challenges, including limitednumbers of full time staff available to work on gender issues,especially at the provincial level, limited budget to implement nationalprograms, and male and female income disparity still remains, etc.These are the challenges that Vietnam will have to overcome in thecoming years.
Mr. Chairman,
My delegation takesthis opportunity to express its appreciation to the supported extendedto Vietnam by UN agencies, especially UN Women, and many otherpartners. Vietnam places much importance on the role of UN agenciesin coordinating the efforts of international community in promoting andprotecting the rights of women and women advancement. Once again,Vietnam reaffirms its commitment to work with the internationalcommunity to fully implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform forAction on Women and the Convention on the Elimination of Discriminationagainst Women for a better life of all women around the world.”-VNA
The following is the speech by Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Vietnam ’s Permanent Representative to the UN at the debate:
“ Mr. Chairman,
I thank the Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur for theirreports. I would also like to express our appreciation to the work ofthe UN Women and believe that under the new leadership of Ms. PhumzileMlambo-Ngcuka, the organization will continue to play a bigger role inpromoting gender equality and empowerment of women. My delegation alignsitself with the statement made by the Distinguished Representative ofFiji on behalf of G77 and China and the Distinguished Representativeof Malaysia on behalf of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Mr. Chairman,
Thanks to the concerted efforts at different levels of theinternational community, important progress has been made in ensuringwomen’s rights. More countries are adopting new legislations on genderequality and mainstreaming gender equality into their developmentstrategies. Millions of women are now better enjoying their rights. Weare seeing a growing number of outstanding women in politics, economyand academia.
However, women all over the world are stillfaced with a number of obstacles that restrict their ability to playsignificant roles in the communities and society. The interconnectedimpacts of the current global economic and social crises, the continuingfood insecurity, climate change and energy crisis have impeded thedevelopment of all, but more so women and are threatening theachievements attained thus far.
In that context,Vietnam welcomes the upcoming review and appraisal of theimplementation of Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and thepreparation of post-2015 development agenda as new opportunities to takestock of and further expand the scope of the work in the area ofwomen’s rights. We would like to highlight the following points:
Firstly, strengthening women’s rights and addressing barriers totheir political participation are critical to women empowerment, povertyreduction and achievement of development goals. Equal representationof women and men helps ensure that decision-making can better fosterinclusive economic and social development and benefit all people.
Secondly, engagement of women as full stakeholders has proven toenhance sustainable livelihoods of local communities and nationaleconomies. Empowering women to participate fully in economic life acrossall sectors is, therefore, essential to build stronger economies,attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially the MDG onpoverty reduction, and achieve development and sustainability.
Thirdly, ending discrimination and violence against women requires acomprehensive and all-inclusive approach. It is not the responsibilityof one person, actor or group. It is a collective response in whicheveryone has a role to play. Actions therefore need to involve allstakeholders, men and women, developing and developed countries,representatives from government, parliaments, the judiciary, lawenforcement agents, the private sector and international organisations.
Mr. Chairman,
Vietnam is strongly committed to the advancement of women andgender equality as important instruments to achieve equitable andsustainable development. Since the enactment of the Gender Equality Lawin 2006, the Government has adopted and implemented various policies topromote the rights of women. For instance, the Law against DomesticViolence was adopted in 2007. A National Strategy and National Programon Gender Equality for the year 2011-2015 with the total budget of anequivalent of 47 million USD are under implementation. A GenderStatistical Indicator System is collecting data that can better informpolicy making and programming. Gender is mainstreamed in all new laws. Arecent example is the Tobacco Law in 2012 which specifically obligatessmokers to avoid smoking near pregnant women and children.
Many innovative programs and projects are being implemented to improvewomen economic situation. With the support from World Bank and UN Womenin Vietnam, this year’s Vietnam Women’s Innovation Day was launched withthe theme “Economic empowerment and capacity building for VietnameseWomen” to support initiatives of economic empowerment for women that“think outside the box and act beyond existing predefined parameters andtraditional interventions”. Since 2003, this biennial program hasprovided some 2.4 million USD in funding for 231 women innovativeprojects.
Women in Vietnam have always been active inthe political life of the country. In recognition of the importance ofinvesting in gender sensitive leadership, the Center for Women inPolitics and Public Administration was launched last June to helppolitical leaders and civil servants develop their appreciation for theimportance of gender equality in inclusive socio-economic developmentand learn ways to promote gender equality through their work.
Mr. Chairman,
The above efforts by the Government, supported by many partnercountries and organisations, have produced very tangible results. 78percent of Vietnamese women are now in the labor force and account for48 percent of the labour force, and the numbers are increasing. Theliteracy rate for women and girls is 92 percent. Female students accountfor more than 50 percent of total enrolment in tertiary education. In2012, Vietnam ranked 3rd in ASEAN and 48th in the world in terms ofgender equality index; was among the 5 developing countries in Asiathat have the highest percentage of women members of Parliament. InVietnam , a certificate of land entitlement must bear the names of boththe husband and the wife to be lawful. And importantly, the issues ofgender, gender equality and gender-based violence have been mainstreamedin all social discourses and policy making processes.
However, Vietnam is still faced with challenges, including limitednumbers of full time staff available to work on gender issues,especially at the provincial level, limited budget to implement nationalprograms, and male and female income disparity still remains, etc.These are the challenges that Vietnam will have to overcome in thecoming years.
Mr. Chairman,
My delegation takesthis opportunity to express its appreciation to the supported extendedto Vietnam by UN agencies, especially UN Women, and many otherpartners. Vietnam places much importance on the role of UN agenciesin coordinating the efforts of international community in promoting andprotecting the rights of women and women advancement. Once again,Vietnam reaffirms its commitment to work with the internationalcommunity to fully implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform forAction on Women and the Convention on the Elimination of Discriminationagainst Women for a better life of all women around the world.”-VNA
