Hanoi (VNA) – “Economic empowerment for women is astrong commitment and one of the priorities of the Vietnamese Government,”Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said in a speechat the General Discussion during the 61st Session of the UN Commission on theStatus of Women on March 13.

Dung, who also chairs the National Committee forthe Advancement of Women, said that Vietnam has obtained considerableachievements in this field as reflected in laws and policies. Its legal frameworkhas been improved and is compatible with the UN Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination against Women, conventions of the InternationalLabor Organisation, and the Beijing Platform for Action about women.

With its own efforts and assistance fromdevelopment partners and UN organisations, the country has realised theMillennium Development Goal on gender equality.

The proportion of women in the labour market isnearly 73 percent and the rate of female enterprise and farm owners 24.9percent.  According to a 2016 World Economic Forum report, Vietnam ranked65 out of 144 countries on the gender gap index, while the female-to-male ratioof labour force participation was 0.92 – nearly reaching the equality level,the minister noted.

Numerous activities have been implemented tosupport entrepreneurship training and promote access to financial and creditsources, Dung said, adding that “the role and status of Vietnamese women in allaspects of social life have been raised significantly.”

However, he admitted that the country stillfaces challenges. While female workers mainly work in informal sectors, thereexists a gap in employment quality, employment status and income between maleand female workers. Most businesses headed by female entrepreneurs are micro smallscale with informal activities and gaining low profit.

Women’s ability and potential is still oftenundervalued. Other challenges include natural disasters, epidemics, labourmarket, finance, the changes of employment structure due to the 4th IndustrialRevolution, low global economic development in recent years and tradeprotection.

Facing this, the Vietnamese Government plans tosupport women, especially young women, to access skill training in emergingfields, particularly in science, technology, technical education andmathematics. It will prioritise spending on social security and caringinfrastructure to help women reduce family burdens and increase their access tosocial protection. More investment will also be poured into improving theproductivity and income of women in agriculture, he added.

In another speech on behalf of the 10 ASEANmember nations, Minister Dung said: “ASEAN Member Countries have accomplished agreat deal in the advancement of women at the national and regional levels.”

However, they also recognise that there arestill barriers to be removed to ensure women and men enjoy equal economicopportunities and that the ASEAN Community as a whole enjoys prosperity andsustainable growth.

He said that the bloc will strive to address theconstraints in all dimensions. Gender mainstreaming, increasing women’sparticipation in the labour force, economic, social and political spheres, andensuring access to education and vocational training are essential for theempowerment of women and securing the full enjoyment of human rights andfundamental freedoms for women.

The 61st Session of the UN Commission on theStatus of Women takes place at the UN headquarters in New York, the US, fromMarch 13-24 under the theme “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing worldof work”.

As part of the session, Minister Dung alsoaddressed fringe events, including a discussion on enhancing women’s role inagriculture and rural areas in Vietnam, and a workshop on dealing with harmfulpractices of male preference held by the UN Population Fund.-VNA