Vietnam attends the 46th Francophone Ministerial Conference

Photo caption — Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang speaks at the Conference. Photo: VNA

The conference was attended by nearly 70 delegations representing 90 member states and governments of the International Organization of Francophonie (OIF). The Vietnamese delegation was led by Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, Representative of the President to the OIF.

The conference focused on assessing the situation of ensuring gender equality and empowering women in the Francophone space since the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on gender equality were adopted in 1994; discussed and determined priority cooperation orientations of the Francophone Community for the coming time, especially in the fields of politics , security, preserving and developing the French language, economic cooperation and promoting sustainable development.

The Conference noted that despite many challenges, especially in many disadvantaged areas in Africa and elsewhere, the Francophone community has made great efforts to implement the goals of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and of the Francophone Community in this area, especially through the active implementation of the Gender Equality Strategy adopted in 2018; the implementation of the Francophone and Women Fund since 2020 has supported nearly 100,000 women in 36 countries to increase their economic and social autonomy; the implementation of the Economic Strategy for the period 2020-2025 and the Digital Strategy 2022-2026 has helped strengthen training, digitalization and women's entrepreneurship programs.

Speaking at the Conference, Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to ensuring gender equality and women's empowerment and has achieved many achievements in this field. Vietnam strongly supports the efforts of the Francophone Community in promoting gender equality and empowering women and girls through actively implementing the Francophone Gender Equality Strategy and related projects and initiatives. Vietnam proposed that OIF and members of the Francophone Community continue their efforts towards peace and stability, in order to create conditions to promote women's advancement; emphasized the need to put gender equality at the heart of each country's development strategy; and called for further strengthening of Francophone economic cooperation to promote women's economic empowerment.

The Conference also highly appreciated the achievements and considered Vietnam as a shining example and success in the field of gender equality and women's empowerment. The Conference also welcomed Vietnam's positive contributions to enhancing the image and voice of the Francophone Community in Asia-Pacific and the work at the OIF Committees, contributing to improving the effectiveness of OIF's specific programs and activities in various fields.

Discussing the priority cooperation orientations in the coming time, Ambassador Dinh Toan Thang emphasized that the Francophone community needs to continue to affirm its role as an agent of solidarity and cooperation, actively contributing to peace and stability, ensuring human development and common prosperity in the Francophone space and in the world. In addition, the Ambassador also stated that the Francophone community needs to continue to promote its role in supporting countries in implementing sustainable development goals, digital transformation, green transformation, responding to global challenges while continuing to strengthen the dissemination and teaching of French, promoting educational cooperation, creating jobs for women and youth, etc. The Ambassador also emphasized Vietnam's contributions in recent times, including hosting and successfully organizing the signing ceremony of the United Nations (UN) Convention against Cybercrime as well as proposing the International Decade of Culture for Sustainable Development initiative at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The conference adopted the Kigali Call, in which OIF members pledged to strengthen data collection on gender equality, ensure women's participation in all areas of social life, and affirm their commitment to promoting sustainable development based on gender equality. The conference concluded with the transfer of the Conference Presidency from France to Cambodia, which will host the 20th Francophone Summit in 2026 in Siem Reap.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/thoi-su/viet-nam-tham-du-hoi-nghi-bo-truong-phap-ngu-lan-thu-46-20251120195740263.htm