Deputy Minister –Vice Chairwoman of the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs Hoang Thi Hanh speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Some 70 experts on gender equality and delegates from ethnic committees of 15 provinces and cities across the country attended a workshop on October 15 to review the first five years of a project on reducing child marriage and inter-marriage in ethnic minority areas during 2015-2025.
The workshop was organised by the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), with support from Irish Aid.
Speaking at the event, Vu Phuong Ly from UN Women said child marriage and inter-marriage are among the most obvious manifestations of gender inequality, which has persisted for generations in ethnic minority areas.
The problems require long-term systematic solutions in terms of socio-economic development, and these must correspond to the customs and cultures of each ethnic minority group. This, however, has not been given adequate attention, she noted.
Deputy Minister –Vice Chairwoman of the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs Hoang Thi Hanh said that, in the next five years, the issues of child marriage and inter-marriage should be placed in a broader and multi-dimensional context. She also highlighted the importance of promoting gender equality, the empowerment of women, women’s leadership, and their participation in household and community decision-making.
The committee plans to ramp up activities to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against ethnic minority girls and boys, including child marriage, which will be a priority in promoting gender equality in ethnic minority areas.
The rate of child marriage among ethnic minorities in 2018 was 21.9 percent; 4.7 percentage points less than the 26.6 percent recorded in 2014, according to the results of a General Statistics Office survey on the socio-economic circumstances of Vietnam’s 53 ethnic minority groups. The decline is still low, however, and varies between localities. The ratio remains high in many provinces, such as Lam Dong and Lao Cai./
VNA
