Vietnam has made progress in solving its gender disparity, particularly in education, employment and heath care, said acting UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Bruce Campbell.

At a closing ceremony for the joint cooperation on gender equality programme between the Vietnamese Government and the UN in Hanoi on Mar. 19, Campbell spoke highly of Vietnam’s efforts and commitments to promote ender equality and women’s empowerment.

In 2009, the proportion of working women stood as high as at 72.3 percent. The number of maternal, newborn and child deaths has been reduced remarkably.

The UN will double its investment in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment to 40 million USD in the next five years (2012-2016), according to the UN official.

Vietnam has promulgated the Law on Gender Quality and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, creating a legal corridor and raising public awareness on the issue.

In the coming time, Vietnam will focus on solving issues relating to gender violence, the sex at birth ratio disparity and enhancement of women’s leadership capacity and generation of steady jobs and income for women as well as encouragement of men to participate in anti-domestic violence campaigns, thus promoting a society based on gender equality.

The joint cooperation on gender equality programme between the Vietnamese Government and the UN was launched on Mar. 19, 2009 with the involvement of relevant Vietnamese ministries and funding from the Spanish Government through the Millennium Development Goals Fund.-VNA