Vietnam has been recognised as a country quickly eradicating its gender gap, the work which it has been undertaking for the past 20 years, according to a national labour official.

Trinh Thanh Hang, a member of the Presidium of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), made the comments in a recent interview with Lao dong (Labour) newspaper ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8.

Hang remarked that Vietnam has impressively implemented the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s gender empowering measures, ranking 62 nd out of 109 countries worldwide in the endeavour.

According to international organisations, Vietnam is now 94 th among 182 countries in the UNDP’s gender development index, moving from low-medium to high-medium level, she added.

She said that women leadership is a key indication of social progress and gender equality. Positively, a number of key positions at State agencies and socio-political-professional organisations have been held by women.

At the 11 th National Party Congress in January 2011, the rate of women becoming new Party Central Committee members reached 9 percent. During the tenure, two women were appointed to the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat.

With 24.4 percent of female National Assembly deputies, Vietnam has a reasonable rate of women legislators, ranking 43 rd out of 143 countries and coming second out of 8 ASEAN member states.

In Vietnam, more women have joined the sectors of education-training, health care, science-technology, culture and sports. Over the past 10 years, 47 women and 7 female collectives have been awarded with VGCL’s creative talent award.

Female entrepreneurs now make up over 20 percent of the total, fairly high compared to other regional nations.

Last year, the country had some 52 million workers, 48.7 percent of whom were women. On the national scale, 78.2 percent were working women, compared to 86 percent of men.

For many years, the VGCL has given priority to empowering women in leadership positions to gradually narrow the gender gap in the political field, a top priority of the gender equality strategy.

The VGCL has urged the Government to issue a decree detailing specific regulations on women, creating a legal corridor for them to enjoy equal opportunities and better life, she said.-VNA