Hanoi (VNA) – Naomi Karahara, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam, has highlightedyoung people as the key force to achieve the country’s agenda for sustainabledevelopment.

On the occasion of International Youth Day (August 12), the UNFPARepresentative in Vietnam granted an exclusive interview to the Vietnam NewsAgency on the country’s youth development.

Following is the text of the interview.

- Thankyou so much Ms. Naomi Kitahara for accepting VNA's interview request. First ofall, will you kindly share with us your opinion about the role of the youth asa key force in achieving the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development goals inVietnam?

Vietnam is experiencing a rapid demographic and social change. Accordingto the results of the 2019 Population and Housing Census, Vietnam recorded thehighest proportion of young people in the country’s history (20.4 million aged10-24, accounting for 21 percent of the population). This indicates a special,demographic window of opportunity, with presence of what we call, a “demographicdividend,” that the country can capitalize to accelerate its socio-economicdevelopment if right policies are put in place for young people. 

This is particularly so, when Vietnam is progressing well in the achievementof a number of SDG-related results, such as a reduction in the nationalmulti-dimensional poverty rate from 9.9 percent in 2016 to 4.8 percent in 2020and good annual GDP growth rates at 6.7 (2015), 6.2 (2016), and 7.02 percent (2019).

Clearly, young people are the key force to achieve the country’s agendafor sustainable development. But we need to invest in young people well, acrossa wide range of areas such as health, education, skills development,employment, and social justice including gender equality and the prevention ofgender-based violence. We also need to create an enabling environment for youngpeople’s participation in decision making, and empower them to play an increasingrole in all social, economic, cultural and political spheres. Given theGovernment’s strategy of digital transformation as a key driver for development,and given the skillfulness of youth people in IT use, more opportunities andconditions should be given to young people.

In doing so, it is important to keep in mind that young people arenot a homogenous group, and this should be taken into account when designingand implementing youth related policies at both national and sub-nationallevels. The consideration of diversity among young people can then facilitatetheir engagement and contribution to the country’s socio-economic development, leavingno one behind.

- Asyou mentioned, Vietnam is in the demographic window of opportunity in which 21percent of the total population are young people, the largest amount inVietnam’s history. However, an increasing number of older people will causepressures on the country’s economy and society. What would be yourrecommendations to the Government of Vietnam to extend the window period and tooptimise this opportunity?

Vietnam is going through a very interesting demographic shift atthe moment. While the county has the largest number of young people in its history,the number of old people is also increasing. 

Data from the 2019 Population and Housing Census shows that peopleaged 60 and above account for 11.9 percent of the population, or more than 11.4million people, of which 58.1 percent are older women, and 67.1 percent live inrural areas. And population aging is progressing very fast in Vietnam. Such amajor shift in the population structure is very important, highlighting thechallenges of population ageing. But here, it is essential to point out thatpopulation aging happens not just because mortality declined, and people livelonger, but also because fertility declined. With declines in fertility in thepast decades, the proportion of old people in the total demographic structure hasincreased in Vietnam.

As the number of the elderly increases, different services do needto be provided, particularly in social protection, health care, and pensionservices And we do need to look at the fact that a lot of old people livealone, and many with disability, posing a unique life challenge for them. Also,elderly women are more likely to fall into poverty, and as such, feminizationof aging, as well as feminization of poverty, has to be taken in to account inpolicy and decision-making. However, population aging can also present a newopportunity - employment for older persons should be looked at, adding theelderly to the country’s labour force, and new businesses can be introducedmore for the care of old people.

In terms of the demographic window of opportunity, we advise theGovernment to fully utilize the life-cycle approach in its policy and decisionmaking, so that young people are fully prepared for older age, and plan theirlives accordingly. It is critical for the Government to make a smart investmentin young people for their education and health care – including sexual andreproductive health, so that young people can contribute significantly to thecountry’s socio-economic growth, as responsible and mature citizens. Now is theonce-off chance that Vietnam has to tap into the demographic dividend toaccelerate and solidify the country’s socio-economic development.

- Theyoung people are one of the vulnerable population groups who have beennegatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. What would be the support fromthe UN in Vietnam in general and UNFPA in particular to this population group?

The COVID-19 pandemic and its socio-economic impact have revealed that in crisis and emergency situations,fragilities and weaknesses are exposed particularly in vital service provision,exacerbating existing inequalities. For inclusive and sustainable developmenttowards the 2030 Agenda, these need to be addressed urgently, so as to buildback better by avoiding any reversals in the developmental gains that Vietnamhas achieved in the past decades.

With support from the Government of Japan, UNFPA works closelywith the Government of Vietnam in mitigating the negative impact of COVID-19 onvulnerable populations. The new project has been designed to support thefollowing four areas:

Domestic Violence/Gender Based Violence: enhancing integrated protection services for the survivors of DV/GBV and carrying out DV/GBV prevention work for behavioral change, through strengthening case management and coordination between sectors and raising awareness of the impact and consequences of DV/GBV;

Quality Care for Older People: ensuring that care for older people, particularly those with disabilities, is integrated and continuous during emergency situations and promoting greater private sector involvement in the care of the elderly;

Sexual and Reproductive Health: ensuring that continuous sexual and reproductive health services are guaranteed to women and young girls, with particular attention to ethnic minorities and those residing in remote and mountainous locations for human security; and

Young Returning Migrant Workers: providing Life Skills Education/Comprehensive Sexuality Education counselling and professional services on sexual and reproductive health, DV/GBV, job replacement, career planning and income generation for the empowerment of Vietnamese young people.

We trust that with this project, UNFPA can make a difference onthe lives of vulnerable populations in Vietnam, minimizing the negative impactof the pandemic.

- In the context of the COVID-19outbreak, what is your advice to young people to stay safe and to support thelocal community?

While COVID-19 tends to affect the elderlypopulation more, it does not mean that young people can never be infected, northat young people never develop severe conditions. As such, it is a must thatall precautionary measures such as 5 K’s are used, and prevention actions asadvised by national and local authorities are fully respected, by young people.Young people are in the same boat together with the rest of the Vietnamesepopulation in the prevention of COVID-19. This is also to protect young people,their family, their loved ones, their communities, and their country.

At the same time, we need to be aware thatyoung people are also sacrificing their lives. Their education and social lifehave been severely affected by COVID-19, and young people are equally sufferingfrom the pandemic. It is therefore important that opportunities are created foryoung people to bring back their lives and pursue their educational andprofessional activities, as soon as the current COVID-19 wave is settled. We asadults have a huge responsibility to facilitate young people’s ambition, life-planning,and growth in Vietnam.

I salute young volunteers across the country,who are giving a helping hand to the areas which have been severely affected byCOVID-19, hospitals and clinics, as well as care and support for vulnerablepopulations including the elderly, women, young children and people withdisability. They are doing an incredible volunteer work to make it better, witha strong belief that together we can prevent and effectively respond toCOVID-19. They are the hopes of Vietnam, and that is the reason why wecelebrate the International Youth Day. Vietnam’s young people are beautiful –they are not the leaders for the future; they are the leaders today.

Many thanks to Ms.Naomi Kitahara, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative inVietnam!