Hanoi (VNA) – On the occasion ofthe International Women’s Day 2023, the UN Resident Coordinator, the Chief of Mission of the InternationalOrganisation for Migration (IOM) and the Ambassadors of Australia,Japan, Republic of Korea, Sweden, UK and the US to Vietnam have joined voices tocelebrate the strength of women and girls on the move.

They also put forth recommendations to bridgethe digital gender divide in migration and strengthen female migrants'resilience and competitiveness in the digital world.

In their messages conveyed via an onlinevideo, they affirmed that migration is an indispensable part of Vietnam'sgeneral development process, which is shown in the number of Vietnamesecitizens who migrate for work, study, marriage, family reunion and otherpurposes, both inside and outside the country.

Migrant workers are a source of sustainablecontributions to Vietnam's socio-economic development, they noted.

A survey by the Vietnam Women’s Union showed that Vietnamese women make up55.5% of the country's migrant population. In 2020, there were3.4 million Vietnamese who migrated (3.3% of total population), among whom 1.71 million were women (50.3% of total migrants).

While migration has provided many womenwith opportunities to improve their lives and families, Vietnamese migrantwomen at the same time face challenges especially in the face of the FourthIndustrial Revolution, it said.

With nearly 80% of working-age women inVietnam being either low-skilled or unskilled, migrant women workers make up asizable proportion of the labour force engaged in lower-skilled economicsectors or labour-intensive positions, which account for nearly 74% of all jobsin Vietnam.

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution isrolled out, automation and technological advancements are forecast to cause arapid decline in demand for unskilled and low-skilled labour. Up to 86% ofworkers in Vietnam's textile and footwear industries are at risk of losingtheir job within the next 15 years. In this context, migrant women workers areamong the most affected by the Fourth Industrial Revolution as they account fora large proportion of the low-skilled labour force.

In another aspect, women particularlymigrant women looking for jobs have faced growing risks on online spaces. Thisis because on the one hand, the online platform has become an increasinglypopular channel to search for job opportunities. On the other hand, technologyenables traffickers to easily recruit victims. Women, especially young women andgirls with unskilled or low-skilled, have been targeted by smugglers andtraffickers whose criminal operations are transnational.

The Ambassadors of countries and representatives from international organisationshighly valued efforts taken by the Vietnamese Government, and pledged to accompanyVietnamese authorised agencies and international partners in protecting and empoweringVietnamese migrant women in the digital context./.