Ensuring gender equality is a fundamental foundation for exercising equitable rights of women and men and carrying out basic requirements of the Charter of the United Nations on Human Rights. The latest report of the Government on the carrying out of the Millennium Development Goals shows that Vietnam has made remarkable progress in gender equality. Women’s position has been uplifted in different social aspects, and gender equality has been strengthened in labour and employment, education and training as well as in administrative apparatus at all levels. Therefore, Vietnam is considered one of East Asian countries fastest at closing the gender gap in the past 20 years.
Women's rights are translated in many legal documents
According to reports by many international organisations, Vietnam has taken a lot of action to reduce discrimination and inequality between men and women. These actions are even institutionalised into government policies and laws, including Law on Gender Equality enacted in 2006 and recent Law on Domestic Violence Prevention. Not in many countries in the world, gender equality actions and measures are implemented at various levels as in Vietnam. Not only that, gender equality and women's rights guarantee are reflected in many legal documents such as the Law on Election of National Assembly Members , the Law on Election of People's Council’s Deputies, the Law on Gender Equality, the Law on Marriage and Family.
Besides, Vietnam is one of the earliest countries to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and domestically legalise all contents of the Convention.
Vietnam also issued the National Strategy on Gender Equality for the 2011-2020 period with the aim of raising awareness, narrowing the gender gap and empowering women; actively implemented international and regional initiatives aimed at promoting the protection of women's rights and anti-discrimination against women.
The National Vietnam Report on the Implementation Human Rights under the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council to which Vietnam is a member shows that Vietnam’s National Strategy for Gender Equality and Advancement of Women is focally applied in areas with inequality and with the risk of high inequality. This has helped prevent and push back trafficking of women and domestic violence, facilitated women to take part in study for higher qualifications to fit their works and tasks.
In addition to perfecting the law, policy and apparatus, Vietnam has achieved very basic results on gender equality. Politically, the rate of women holding management positions is on the rise. Two women were elected to the Politburo and one was elected to the Secretariat, the biggest-ever number. At the central level, two ministers and 15 deputy ministers and four deputy directors are female. Women’s accounted for 24.4 percent of deputies at the 13th National Assembly (2011-2016), ranked 43rd out of 143 countries and 2nd in ASEAN region. At the local level, many women are holding key roles and positions at all levels and sectors. Women entrepreneurs of ethnic minorities are on the rise.
Economically, women accounted 48.5 percent of labour force. 82.5 percent of men and 73.5 percent of women join the workforce. Women were provided 48 percent of jobs created in 2013, reaching the target of the National Strategy on Gender Equality. In 2013, Vietnam recruited over 1,732 million trainees, of which women accounted for 42 percent, equal to 91.15 percent of the plan and up 14 percent versus 2012.
Vietnam’s efforts for gender equality are internationally recognised. According to the UN data on gender inequality, Vietnam ranked 47th out of 187 countries, compared with the 58th position out of 136 countries in 2010.
Need to change prejudices
However, gender gap remains high in some aspects. Women’s presence in the political sphere is limited, especially at the grassroots level. The ratio of women holding managerial titles remains low. The ratio of National Assembly’s female deputies failed to meet the target of the National Strategy for the Advance of Women in 2010 (targeting at 33 percent) and the National Strategy on Gender Equality in the 2011 - 2020 phase. Traditional prejudices of women’s roles where women are attached to the care of their families and husbands with the earning of living still exist.
Economically, women's opportunities to approach highly-paid jobs and economic resources are still fewer than men. Some of targets set in the National Strategy on Gender Equality like labour and training fail to reach. According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), rural women aged below 45 with training and professional expertise accounted for 11.8 percent in 2013, equal to nearly a half of the plan. The rate of women engaged in vulnerable works is higher than men. Women outnumbered men in informal jobs. They earned less than men.
Particularly, women mistreatment is still present in some places. Many minority women are illiterate.
It is impossible to deny the merits of women in family and society. Expectations the society places on women are very huge. The Government of Vietnam assesses the importance of gender equality in economic and social development and gender equality is a predisposing factor for building a strong human resource and promoting the quality of life for every individual, every family and the entire society.
Therefore, according to many experts, to have a society of gender equality, it is necessary to change the perceptions of many people in gender equality and boost international cooperation in addressing gender equality issues, especially in vulnerable groups and strategic fields like education, health and employment.
Quynh Anh
Vietnamese
