Women in Ho Chi Minh City "contribute their passion" to the draft Law on Special Urban Areas.

Many insightful suggestions were raised by delegates at the workshop to provide feedback on the draft Law on Special Urban Areas, organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union on the afternoon of May 28th, proposing the development of specific policies for women, children, and urban families; adding safety criteria for women and children; and integrating gender perspectives.

The workshop serves as a forum for association officials, experts, scientists , legal scholars, lawyers, female intellectuals, female entrepreneurs, artists, and delegates to contribute their opinions to the draft law, which is strategically important for the development of Ho Chi Minh City in the new phase.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union (center), speaks at the workshop to provide feedback on the draft Law on Special Urban Areas.

In her opening remarks at the workshop, Ms. Huynh Thi Thuy Phuong, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union, stated that the draft Law on Special Urban Areas not only opens up new development opportunities for Ho Chi Minh City but also requires the construction of a modern, humane, inclusive policy system aimed at improving the quality of life for its citizens.

According to Ms. Phuong, the Central Government's permission for Ho Chi Minh City to research and develop a Law on Special Urban Areas is not only a major institutional milestone but also reflects trust and expectations for the city's role as an economic locomotive, innovation center, and growth pole in the new development phase.

"This is also an opportunity for the city to create superior, strong, flexible, and pioneering mechanisms to remove development bottlenecks, improve the quality of urban governance, maximize social resources, and enhance the quality of life for its citizens," Ms. Phuong emphasized.

In this process, women in Ho Chi Minh City are not only beneficiaries of policies but also directly involved in creating, operating, and developing a modern, civilized, and compassionate city.

The Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union expressed her hope that the workshop would generate more voices and practical, feasible proposals to contribute to the formation of guiding policies that create conditions for women in the city to maximize their potential and make stronger contributions to the city's development in the new era.

At the workshop, discussions focused on researching and proposing many special and groundbreaking policies for women in the city in areas such as: physical and mental health care; enhancing learning opportunities, training in digital skills and professional skills; creating sustainable jobs, improving the quality of female labor; supporting women in entrepreneurship, innovation and digital transformation…

Ms. Ung Thi Xuan Huong, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Lawyers Association and Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Women Intellectuals Association, contributed her opinions at the workshop.

Commenting on the scope of regulation and gender equality issues, Ms. Ung Thi Xuan Huong, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Lawyers Association and Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Women Intellectuals Association, noted that the draft law has addressed some issues related to education , healthcare, social security, entrepreneurship, social housing, and worker accommodation… However, the regulations are still mainly designed as general policies for citizens, workers, and businesses, and have not clearly established specific mechanisms for children, women, and families.

According to Ms. Huong, although the draft stipulates the principles of ensuring human rights, civil rights, and social justice in Article 4, these principles have not yet been translated into specific mechanisms for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in special urban areas.

From there, she proposed adding a separate set of policies for children in special urban areas, such as: schools near residences; kindergartens in industrial zones and export processing zones; support for immigrant children to attend school; public playgrounds; safe routes to school; regular school health check-ups; school psychological counseling; and mechanisms to protect children in the digital environment.

Regarding women, she argued that the draft did not recognize women as an independent group to develop specific mechanisms for. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City has a very large female workforce, especially migrant workers, industrial zone workers, women working in the informal sector, the night-time economy, and small-scale entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, she also suggested the need for specific mechanisms on gender equality: "The draft includes the principle of social justice, but it lacks requirements for integrating gender into planning, budgeting, public investment, transportation, housing, employment, social security, and digital transformation. This is an important missing element in the draft because the Law on Special Cities is not only a law on infrastructure and the economy, but also a framework for governing the quality of urban life."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Master of Law and Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, gave her comments and suggestions on the draft Law on Special Urban Areas.

Sharing the same viewpoint, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, Master of Law and Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for the Protection of Children's Rights, proposed adding a "Gender Impact Assessment Report" when submitting the draft law to the National Assembly to ensure the correct process for drafting legal documents and to create a basis for monitoring the implementation of gender equality in the city's socio-economic development policies.

She also proposed adding provisions to create equal employment opportunities for men and women; focusing on improving the quality of female human resources, vocational training, and effectively implementing policies for female workers in Article 26 of the draft law.

According to Ms. Thanh, the rapid development of the special urban area also creates significant pressure on job creation for female workers. Therefore, the city needs to continue maintaining the Women's Economic Development Fund (CWED); implement policies to support capital and reduce taxes for startup projects owned by women; prioritize social housing for disadvantaged female workers; and research the "Safe House for Women and Children" model to provide emergency support for cases of violence and abuse.

Representatives from the Ho Chi Minh City Women Entrepreneurs Association contributed their opinions.

From the perspective of the women's business community, representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Women Entrepreneurs Association believe that gender equality should be considered a strategic element in urban development, especially in this context. Accordingly, women need to participate more deeply in policy-making, social critique, urban planning, digital transformation, and innovation.

Representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Women Entrepreneurs Association proposed adding a mechanism to increase the proportion of women participating in advisory councils, planning councils, and urban governance councils to help make policy decisions more comprehensive, humane, and practical.

Delegates also cited the fact that women often have a closer perspective on social life, especially in issues of education, healthcare, living environment, childcare, elderly care, and community safety. Therefore, women's participation will contribute to making urban planning, public transportation, and public spaces more friendly and safe for women and children.

Speaking at the workshop, Meritorious Artist Hanh Thuy, a member of the Steering Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Women Artists Club, expressed: We hope the draft law will include additional content related to the arts. In Article 23, Section 2 concerning the development of culture, society, sports, tourism, education, training, health, and social welfare, I find many valuable and practical provisions relevant to the city's life and management. However, what concerns Meritorious Artist Hạnh Thúy is that almost none of the provisions in this entire law directly address the arts.

"In my opinion, art has never been outside the flow of history or national life. Therefore, I hope that the section on socio-cultural development will include more content about art. Because art is not only a creative activity but also a bridge between the nation and the world, preserving cultural identity and touching people's emotions in the most natural way," Meritorious Artist Hanh Thuy suggested.

In her concluding remarks at the workshop, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan, President of the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union, stated that the Organizing Committee had received 15 papers and 14 direct contributions. Simultaneously, the Union is also collecting online feedback from female officials and members to further compile and submit to the drafting committee.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Xuan highly appreciated the sense of responsibility, dedication, and practicality in the contributions of the delegates. The suggestions focused comprehensively on each chapter and article of the draft law, from the principles of application to specific areas.

"Many insightful opinions have been put forward proposing specific policies for urban women, children, and families; building healthy cities; adding safety criteria for women and children; as well as requiring gender mainstreaming and gender impact assessment in the process of drafting and implementing laws," Ms. Xuan said.

The Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union will continue to compile all feedback to advise the City and relevant agencies, gradually perfecting the draft, contributing to building Ho Chi Minh City into an increasingly civilized, modern, and compassionate city.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/phu-nu-tphcm-gui-tam-huyet-vao-du-thao-luat-do-thi-dac-biet-238260528183414443.htm