The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is an international commitment to promoting gender equality and the advancement of women that has been agreed upon by member states, including Vietnam, since 1995.
During the 2019-2024 period, Vietnam has strived to overcome difficulties and challenges, synchronously and effectively implemented the set goals, tasks and solutions, and achieved many important and comprehensive achievements in most fields.
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| On February 20-21, the Ministry of Public Security and UN Women organized a workshop to promote the implementation of the National Action Program on Women, Peace and Security 2024–2030. (Source: UN Women) |
Comprehensive results
Promoting sustainable employment
Since 2019, Vietnam has issued many legal documents and implemented many policies and models to support female workers, ensure women's rights in the field of land and access to credit, and support women-owned enterprises such as the 2019 Labor Code, the 2024 Land Law, the 2020 Law on Vietnamese Workers Working Abroad under Contracts, the National Strategy on Gender Equality for the 2021-2030 period, and other relevant legal documents.
During the period affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government implemented 12 policies to support employees and employers facing difficulties due to the pandemic.
With these efforts, Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest rate of women participating in the labor force in the world, reaching 62.9% (2023). The rate of trained female workers of working age is 26.8%.
About 20% of Vietnamese businesses are small and medium-sized, owned by women. The total number of female customers who borrow from credit programs at the Social Policy Bank is 4.7 million, accounting for 68% of the total number of customers with outstanding loans.
| Vietnam's Gender Equality Index in 2024 ranked 72/146 countries. The proportion of female National Assembly deputies is always high in the Asia-Pacific region (reaching 30.26%); Vietnamese women account for 46.8% of the country's workforce; The labor force participation rate of female workers is 62.4%; The proportion of women-owned enterprises is 28.2%. |
Poverty alleviation, social protection and social services
Vietnam has issued and implemented many policies with the viewpoint of no discrimination and ensuring the promotion of the rights of women and girls with disabilities, universal health insurance policy, basic health care, reproductive health care, sexual health, notably the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2021-2025, in which women in poor households, near-poor households, and newly escaped poverty households are among the priority subjects of the program.
Vietnam's social assistance policies are constantly being supplemented and amended to suit reality, gradually approaching the world towards the goal of covering most target groups in the life cycle from childhood to the elderly; some social assistance policies have targeted women (including women with disabilities) and girls. The State has always been consistent in its policy of ensuring the right to education and equality in access to education, especially for poor students, ethnic minority children, remote and mountainous areas.
Thanks to that, Vietnam is a country with outstanding poverty reduction achievements in the region and the world. The poverty rate has decreased sharply, to 2.93% (2023). The whole country has established 425 social assistance facilities. The health service system is increasingly complete, the health insurance coverage rate reaches 93.35% with over 93.3 million participants; universal preschool education for 5-year-old children was completed in 2017, the gender gap in participation in minimum education has been almost eliminated.
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| Delegates cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Anh Duong House in Hoa Binh province to support women and children who have suffered violence. (Photo: Ngoc Anh) |
Efforts to eliminate gender-based violence
Prevention and response to gender-based violence has been and is being given attention and priority by the Vietnamese Government.
In the period of 2019-2024, the contents of the adjustment on violence in the field of gender equality and family will continue to be included in important legal documents and policies such as the 2019 Labor Code (supplementing regulations on preventing and combating sexual harassment in the workplace); the Law on Prevention and Combat of Domestic Violence 2022; the Program "Prevention and Combat of Human Trafficking in the 2021-2025 period"; the Program "Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence in the 2021-2025 period"; the Program "Protecting and Supporting Children to Interact Healthily and Creatively in the Online Environment in the 2021-2025 period" and many other documents.
Training in professional knowledge, skills and techniques for state management staff, service providers on prevention and response to gender-based violence, child abuse and violence, and communication work on prevention and response to gender-based violence, child abuse and human trafficking continues to receive attention and implementation.
Violence against women and domestic violence are increasingly being addressed; support services are being provided better. Models promoting gender equality, preventing and responding to gender-based violence have gradually developed in quantity and quality, and have been developed and implemented at different levels. Inspections are being carried out regularly and seriously.
Women empowerment
Vietnam has taken many actions and measures to promote women's participation in social life and decision-making. The National Strategy on Gender Equality for the 2021-2030 period identifies specific goals in the political field.
The program "Enhancing women's equal participation in leadership and management positions at all levels of policy making for the period 2021-2030" was issued to promote women's potential and creativity, towards realizing the commitment to achieving sustainable development goals on gender equality and women's empowerment. Gender and gender equality content is integrated into the training and development of civil servants and public employees; inspection and examination of the implementation of laws on gender equality are strengthened.
Gender equality in the political field has made remarkable progress. Vietnam is a country with a high rate of women participating in leadership and management positions in the world.
By August 2024, Vietnam will have 1 female Vice President; 1 female Vice President of the National Assembly; 3/12 female Chairmen of committees and equivalent agencies of the National Assembly; 4/30 female Ministers and equivalent; 14/30 ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and agencies under the Government have key female leaders; The proportion of provincial-level local governments with key female leaders (Chairmen, Vice Chairmen of People's Councils, Provincial People's Committees) accounts for 74.6% (47/63 provinces/cities directly under the Central Government).
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Party Central Committee member, President of the Vietnam Women's Union Nguyen Thi Tuyen (5th from right, front row) and delegates show their determination to promote gender equality and prevent and respond to gender-based violence, November 16, 2024. |
Peaceful and inclusive society
Vietnam is always proactive and active in international integration, making practical contributions to maintaining peace and security, promoting cooperation and development.
The "National Action Program on Women, Peace and Security for the 2024-2030 period" was issued with the goal of ensuring and further promoting gender equality; enhancing the role, position, voice, rights, obligations and responsibilities of women in participating in the fields of peace and security, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and sustainable development of the country and internationally.
Consider media as an important solution to raise awareness on the agenda of women, peace and security. Policies and laws in the field of media are not gender discriminatory.
As of August 2024, there were 117 female soldiers, including 4 female police officers, deployed to United Nations peacekeeping missions. Vietnam is currently the country with the rate of female soldiers participating in United Nations peacekeeping operations reaching nearly 15%. In the ASEAN region, Vietnam actively contributes to building regional policy frameworks on Women, Peace and Security and participates in the ASEAN Women's Group on Mediation.
Conservation, protection and restoration of the environment
Vietnam is one of the few countries in the world that considers gender equality as a cross-cutting content in the country's strategy for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
Gender content is integrated into legal documents and environmental policies such as the Law on Environmental Protection, the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, the Land Law, the National Strategy on Climate Change for the period up to 2050, the Project "Raising public awareness and community-based disaster risk management to 2030" has contributed to promoting social progress, helping people better access and benefit from policies on environment, land, natural disaster prevention and climate change.
Vietnam has taken many actions and committed to putting gender equality, ensuring women's full participation in all stages and climate action on the country's highest agenda.
In September 2020, the Government of Vietnam submitted an updated version of its nationally determined contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Vietnam is making efforts to implement its commitments at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) as well as its commitments under the international human rights conventions to which Vietnam is a party.
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| Vietnamese Women's Day atmosphere at the Field Hospital in South Sudan. (Source: BVDC2.6) |
Priorities for the coming time
Practice shows that there are still some difficulties facing gender equality work in general and the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action for the period 2019-2024, namely:
The proportion of female workers of working age who have received training is still lower than that of men. The average basic salary of female workers is still lower than that of male workers.
Unemployment of untrained female workers due to changes in production technology and the application of automation technology still exists. Most social assistance policies are gender neutral.
Abortion among minors and abortion at some private medical facilities that do not meet the required conditions still occur. The staff working in social work and violence prevention and control is limited in number and capacity, and the allocated funding is not commensurate with the assigned tasks.
There are still many stereotypes about the roles and positions of men and women in various areas of social and family life. Gender impact assessment in the process of drafting legal documents is sometimes not substantive and lacks gender-disaggregated data.
The proportion of women in armed forces and peace negotiation delegations is still low. Women and children remain more vulnerable than men.
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| The Vietnamese delegation attended the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference to review 30 years of implementing the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, held in Bangkok, Thailand from November 19-21, 2024. (Source: Molisa) |
Based on the achievements, challenges and lessons learned from the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, it is necessary to prioritize the implementation of a number of solutions in the coming period as follows:
Firstly, continue to improve the system of policies and laws on gender equality, and enhance the rights of women and girls.
Second, continue to propose solutions to improve the effectiveness of implementing policies and laws on gender equality and the rights of women and girls.
Third, promote the integration of gender equality issues in law and policy making.
Fourth, continue to promote gender-responsive budgeting.
Fifth, continue to implement solutions to improve the quality of gender statistics and gender equality.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/no-luc-vi-su-tien-bo-cua-phu-nu-306500.html
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