Vietnam is ready to cooperate for gender equality.

Women from ethnic minority groups participate in a literacy class. (Illustrative image. Source: VNA)

On the morning of March 11th (New York time), the opening ceremony of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) took place at the United Nations Headquarters, with the theme: “Accelerating the promotion of gender equality and empowering women and children through poverty eradication, institutional strengthening and gender-sensitive financing.”

Attending the session were the President of Switzerland, the Prime Minister of Latvia, the Vice Presidents of Iran and Guatemala, Deputy Prime Minister Eswatini, more than 100 ministers, and over 15,000 delegates from United Nations member states and non-governmental organizations.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan led the Vietnamese delegation to the session.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, President of the United Nations General Assembly, and Executive Director of the United Nations Gender Equality Agency (UN Women) delivered the opening remarks at the session.

UN leaders expressed concern about the slow progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly on poverty eradication, emphasizing that one in ten women is living in extreme poverty.

Speakers argued that women and girls in many parts of the world are not fully guaranteed their rights due to outdated customs, patriarchal ideologies, gender stereotypes and prejudices, and are even subjected to abuse in conflicts and crises, especially in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.

UN leaders stressed the need to secure funding and strengthen institutions to fully implement the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, empower women economically, increase investment in education, end conflict, consolidate peace, and uphold international human rights and humanitarian law.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN system has now achieved gender equality in leadership positions.

UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis called for support and empowerment of women in responding to climate change.

Antonio Manuel Revilla Lagdameo, Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, argued that there is a need to focus on improving and enhancing the effectiveness of the social protection system, ensuring access to public services, and building sustainable infrastructure for gender equality and empowering women and girls.

UN Women Executive Director Sima Sami Bahous stressed the need for women to be involved in all processes related to development, finance, peace, and security.

Speaking at the session, Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan affirmed that women today are an indispensable force in all processes at all levels concerning peace, security, social progress, and sustainable development.

The Vice President stated that it is necessary to focus on helping women rise up and fully develop their potential to participate in economic, political, and social activities, and to further promote women's participation in decision-making mechanisms in politics, economics, society, and culture, especially in the economic field, in order to strongly and effectively support the goal of poverty eradication, ensuring livelihoods through entrepreneurship and innovation.

The Vice President also emphasized empowering women and girls in science, technology, and digital transformation, linked to preventing discrimination and violence in cyberspace, strengthening the role of women in building a peaceful, stable, inclusive, and sustainable international environment, addressing non-traditional security challenges, especially responding to climate change.

The head of the Vietnamese delegation proposed that countries and the United Nations should work together to promote partnerships for sustainable development, provide financial resources and advice on institutional and policy development for developing countries, and strengthen direct cooperation between organizations, business networks, experts, and leading women, enhancing the sharing, dissemination, and effective promotion of best practices.

Vice Chairwoman Vo Thi Anh Xuan highlighted several achievements of Vietnam in gender equality, including the fact that 30.3% of National Assembly deputies are women, 82.4% of provinces have key female leaders, 70% of women of labor market age participate, and nearly 30% of businesses have female leaders.

The Vice President informed international friends that in January 2024, Vietnam issued the National Action Program on Women, Peace and Security, making a practical contribution to international efforts to promote this issue in the region and around the world.

The Vice President affirmed that Vietnam is always ready to cooperate closely with countries and partners for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, leaving no one behind.

The Commission on the Status of Women, established in 1946, is a functional commission under the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) tasked with recommending to the Council measures to promote women's rights in the economic, social, political, and educational spheres, as well as monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the outcomes of the 23rd Special Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 2000; and providing policy advice and contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and addressing emerging issues affecting gender equality and women's empowerment. The results and recommendations of each session are reported to ECOSOC.

The CSW68 session is significant in the context of preparing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on empowering women, promoting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 5 on achieving gender equality by 2030.

Vietnam places particular importance on ensuring gender equality and the advancement of women and has achieved many successes in this area.

Vietnam is considered one of the countries that has narrowed the gender gap fastest in the past 20 years, is one of the countries that achieved Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG 3) on gender equality early, and is striving to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goals 5 and 10 on eliminating inequality, promoting gender equality, and empowering women and girls.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/pho-chu-tich-nuoc-vo-thi-anh-xuan-viet-nam-san-sang-hop-tac-vi-binh-dang-gioi-308097.html