VN well deals with gender discrimination

He made the remark at the closing ceremony of the Government-UN Joint Program on Gender Equality, which was held by the UN and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in Hà Nội on March 19.

The UN will invest around US $40 million in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in Việt Nam for the next five years, double the amount for 2006-2011, he added.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyễn Thanh Hòa said Việt Nam has issued many important policies and implemented a number of international legal mechanisms to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In 2009, the rate of female participation in the labor force was high, accounting for 72.3% of the total female population at working age. Maternal, infant and child mortality have also been reduced significantly.

The US $4.6 million program was officially launched in April 2009 and will wrap up by March 30, 2012. Its goal is to improve the capacity of national and provincial authorities and other stakeholders to effectively implement, monitor and evaluate the two gender-related laws.

The program has involved data collection, gender analysis, as well as the enforcement, monitoring and reporting of the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Preventing and Controlling Domestic Violence.

After three years of implementation, the program has raised the public’s awareness of gender equality and domestic violence; increased their knowledge on implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting for these laws; and improved their capacity to mainstream gender issues in policies and programs of various sectors.

In the coming years, the UN has also committed to working closely with the Government to realize the National Strategy for Gender Equality for the 2011-2020 period and the National Program on Gender Equality during the 2011-2015 period.

By Thùy Dung