From left: Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie, Country Representative of UN Women in Vietnam Elisa Fernandez Saenz and ADB Country Director in Vietnam Andrew Jeffries at the launching ceremony of the report. (Photo: VNA)

Country Gender Equality Profile Vietnam 2021 (CGEP), the first comprehensive report on the gender equality situation in Vietnam, was released at a conference on October 26 by the UN Women, the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Addressing the event, Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Country Representative of UN Women in Vietnam, said that this was the first time an overall report on gender equality was announced in Vietnam. The report showed that gender equality is not a marginal issue, but the core to the quality, permanence and progress of Vietnam's socio-economic development.

Since 2000, Vietnam has carried out national gender assessments every five years. The inter-sectoral effort aims to provide an overall view on progress that Vietnam has gained in major indications on gender equality, while giving analysis and recommendations to deal with obstacles in the field and narrow down the gender gap.

The report is a helpful information sources assisting the mainstreaming of gender equality during the preparations for the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Engagement (UNSDCF) in the 2022-2027 period.

The CGEP is expected to play the role as a guidance in supervising the implementation progress of the Sustainable Development Goals in Vietnam through a gender responsive lens.

Implemented in one year, the report includes knowledge, advice and consultancy from many agencies and individuals, including the Department of Gender Equality under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the General Statistics Office as well as domestic and foreign experts.

It gives a number of recommendations to Vietnamese State agencies on how to make wide-range changes on the gender equality situation, focusing on three major action areas such as strengthening the implementation of existing commitments on gender equality; removing fundamental barriers to gender equality; and promoting the progress in gender equality in the next decade./.

Source: VNA