Population ageing in Viet Nam has reached a level where it is having a great impact on all sectors of the economy. This calls for the Government to direct and facilitate ensuring that people in Viet Nam can live healthy, active and fulfilling lives throughout their lives. While the major concern is the older persons defined as those aged 60 years and more, population ageing has started to affect everyone. In order to cope with the ageing of the population, it is therefore no longer sufficient to meet the expectations and needs of the older population only but it requires a more comprehensive approach to address its effects on all population groups. However, while Viet Nam's current policies are mainly to support and address the problems of older persons, there is need for a more comprehensive policy on population ageing. It is therefore necessary to address current ageing-related issues which affect both older and young people and develop national programmes and policies that are consistent with the government's action plans on socio-economic development to achieve positive and successful results.

This policy report published by Viet Nam National Committee on Ageing (VNCA), with the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the VNM9P03 project, "Supporting Viet Namese agencies in the provision and use of data on population and development and evidence to develop and monitor plans, strategies and policies for economic and social development, and sustainable development goals 2017-2021". It provides an overall situation analysis on ageing in Viet Nam and recommendations to the Government of Viet Nam on the need for developing a comprehensive national policy to respond to population ageing issues and prepare for a well adaptation of the country in the aged population context.

This country profile was developed by the United Nations Population Fund in Viet Nam as part of the UNFPA Global Programme to Prevent Son Preference and the Undervaluing of Girls: Improving the sex ratio at birth in select countries in Asia and the Caucasus. The profile was prepared based on the data, information and results of various population surveys and census, and studies conducted by various partner institutions in Viet Nam, namely the Ministry of Health/General Office for Population and Family Planning, the General Statistics Office, the Parliamentary Committee for Social Affairs (PCSA), and the Vietnamese Fatherland Front.

This factsheet provides key data and information on the Global Programme to Prevent Son Preference and the Undervaluing of Girls. The programme will contribute to addressing the imbalance in sex ratio via strengthening evidence-based national policies and programmes to tackle son preference, low value of girls and gender inequalities resulting in gender-biased sex selection in identified countries of prevalence in Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal and Viet Nam) and the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia).

This brief proposes measures to strengthen the impact of the Domestic Violence Prevention and Control Law (DVPC Law) in Viet Nam. The findings are based primarily on the joint Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism (MoCST) and UNFPA 2016 review of the DVPC Law. The review looked not only at implementation of the law but also at how reflective it is of international norms and standards, and at the lessons learned from the pilot Minimum Intervention Package (MIP) programme.

The sex ratio at birth (SRB) is defined as the number of male children being born per 100 females. The biologically normal SRB lies between 102 and 106. In Viet Nam, the SRB was still at the biologically normal level in the year 2000, but rose to 110.5 by 2009 and to 112.2 by 2016. In some provinces, this figure was as high as 117 male children per 100 female children. This policy brief presents new information on the skewed SRB in Viet Nam and its socio-cultural context, offering an analysis of recent demographic developments and research-based recommendations for ways forward.