Vietnam learns from int’l experience in building women, peace, security national action plan

Do Hung Viet, Assistant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organisations, speaks at the workshop. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Experts shared internationalexperience and proposed recommendations for Vietnam in the building and implementation of a national action plan to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda at a workshop onMarch 28.

The workshop, held both online and in-person, wasjointly held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN Women. Itis expected to help Vietnam deploy the outcomes produced during the time it served as anon-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for 2020-2021, as wellas effectively carry out its international commitments to gender equality, women, peace and security.

Do Hung Viet, Assistant to the Minister of ForeignAffairs and Director of the Foreign Ministry's Department of InternationalOrganisations, said the workshop would be useful for Vietnam's efforts to consolidate mechanisms andpolicy frameworks to implement the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.

He emphasised Vietnam’s consistent guidelines andpolicies, and its remarkable achievements in the implementation of the agenda,especially the country’s UNSC membership and its efforts in completingsustainable development goals.

The women, peace and security national action planshave been rolled out in 98 UN member countries, helping to coordinate nationalefforts to promote the role of women and girl in the peace process, Hung said.

The official held that the coordination between theForeign Ministry, other Vietnamese agencies and the UN Women in the research for Vietnam's national action plan will contribute to carrying forward Vietnam’sinitiatives at the UNSC, consolidating legal mechanisms and frameworks, andaffirming Vietnam’s strong commitments to gender equality in general, andwomen, peace and security in particular.

Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, said such a plan would support the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in enhancing theprotection and empowerment of women across spheres.

It will also help to draw more attention to andincrease activities in women’s security, including the fight against emergingchallenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, she added.

Flowers also commended Vietnam’s leading role inpeacekeeping operations and ensuring humanitarian protection for women andgirls amid conflicts and crises, noting that among 75 officers deployed byVietnam to UN peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and the Central AfricanRepublic, 15 are female.

Elisa Fernandez Saenz, UN Women Representative inVietnam, said the plan will help the Vietnamese Government identify prioritiesand opportunities in the future, and ensure integration and linkage among relevant policies and nationalstrategies.

The UN Women and other UN agencies stand ready tosupport the Vietnamese Government and concerned sides in the process, shepledged./.

VNA