Vietnam calls for APEC support to women’s access to vaccines

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccination policy is being expanded to women of more than 13 week of pregnancy and nursing mothers. Support services, as well as violence prevention and response ones, for women and children have been promoted, thereby helping to ensure social security and minimise inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So said Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha, head of the Vietnamese delegation, at the 2021 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy Forum held on September 24. The ministerial-level event took place via videoconference under the chair of Jan Tinetti, Minister for Women and Minister of Internal Affairs of New Zealand.

The meeting saw the participation of ministers/heads of delegations and senior officials of 20 APEC member economies. Basing on the APEC 2021 theme of “Join. Work. Grow. Together”, the forum scrutinised response efforts against COVID-19 and the changes necessary for enhancing women’s engagement and recovery in the formal economy.

At the forum’s high-level policy dialogue, APEC ministers and heads of delegations shared experience in boosting women’s economic power in the post-pandemic period.

On behalf of the Vietnamese delegation, Deputy Minister Ha highlighted the Government’s new and outstanding policies that assist people and enterprises in pandemic-caused difficulties. Under these policies, children, pregnant workers, and those bringing up or replacing parents to care for children under the age of six will receive aid at a higher level with simple procedures.

She stressed that facing difficulties amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietnam stays committed and still prioritises ensuring gender equality via the promulgation and implementation of strategies and programmes for promoting gender equality until 2030, and via efforts to help realise the targets set by APEC in the La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth.

“This outcome brings about the optimistic belief that Vietnamese women will have a greater role to play in policy making and social leadership and management in the post-pandemic recovery,” she noted.

Vietnam highly values the role and strength of the multilateral solidarity, of which APEC is a concrete demonstration, Ha added.

The Deputy Minister called on APEC member economies to continue supporting one another in settling the most urgent issues related to women, including ensuring good health, creating sustainable jobs and income sources, increasing resources for the initiatives supporting women-led businesses and companies with high rates of female employees, sharing vaccines equally, and especially ensuring women’s access to vaccines.

Her opinions were welcomed and reflected in the forum’s joint statement.

The event adopted a joint statement illustrating the entire region’s unanimity and resolve to carry out measures for boosting gender equality and women’s economic empowerment for post-pandemic recovery. Ministers/heads of delegations laid special emphasis on making efforts to step up the APEC Putrajaya Vision 2040 and APEC leaders’ commitment to an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community for the prosperity of all people.

In particular, the statement underlined the implementation of measures for gender equality promotion and women’s economic empowerment, including narrowing the gender-based wage gap and employment discrimination, fostering work - life balance and equal sharing of unpaid housework, eradicating all forms of gender-based violence in the workplace, boosting women’s transition from the informal economic sector to the formal one, and assisting women’s entrepreneurship.

The forum’s statement will be submitted to the APEC leaders’ meeting in late 2021.

Founded in 1989, APEC includes 21 economies, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam./.