Vietnam committed to promoting gender equality, women’s rights

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National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan affirms Vietnam's commitment to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment in society.

Ngan appreciated the adoption of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action as the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights, saying the document promotes the finalization of the legal framework to empower women and offer them equal opportunities in decision-making positions globally.

“Today ensuring gender equality and empowering women are of primary concern at regional and international parliamentary forums,” she noted. “In particular, the 13th Summit of Women Speakers of Parliament held by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on August 17, 2020 and the 41st ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in Hanoi have affirmed women’s role and contribution to all aspects of life, as well as to emergency response, including the COVID-19 pandemic.”

For Vietnam, the National Assembly Chairwoman said promoting gender equality and women’s rights is a consistent policy of the Vietnamese State, prescribed in the Constitution and guaranteed in practice.

“Vietnamese women always play an important role and have made a great contribution throughout the nation’s history, building up traditional cultural identity and developing the society,” she affirmed.

She went on to say the National Assembly of Vietnam has passed many legal documents to protect and promote women’s empowerment, and encourage women’s engagement in economic, political and social activities, while overseeing law enforcement and implementation of Government policies in this area.

To conclude, Ngan stated as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 term, ASEAN 2020 Chair, and AIPA 2020 Chair, Vietnam is committed to promoting women- and girls-related initiatives at these important forums and is ready to work with other countries towards a truly equal society and a world of peace and sustainability.

This year the UN General Assembly hosted a high-level meeting on October 1 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women themed accelerating the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.