Event: “International Cooperation for Gender Equality in Viet Nam in the context of the global financial crisis” (celebrating International Women's Day)
Venue: Viet Nam Women’s Union, 39 Hang Chuoi Street, Ha No
Your Excellency Madame Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, President of the Viet Nam Women’s Union - Mrs. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Standing Vice- President of the Viet Nam Women’s Union
- H.E. Deanna Horton, Canadian Ambassador to Viet Nam
- Excellencies Ambassadors, Representatives of NGOs, International Organisations, Donor agencies and the private sector
- My Fellow UN Colleagues
- Friends
It is an honour for me to be here with you today, and, on behalf of the UN Country Team, I would like to congratulate the Viet Nam Women’s Union for its impressive achievements in 2008 as well as for your continued strong leadership in advancing the cause of gender equality in Viet Nam.
At the outset, I would also like to highlight again the remarkable work of the Women’s Union and gender activists around the country who late last year so effectively supported the Say No to Violence Against Women campaign, which attracted close to 1 million signatures – the total global target -- in Viet Nam alone.
The theme of this year’s globally observed International Women’s Day -- ‘Men and Women: United to End Violence Against Women and Girls’ – very much builds on this campaign and ties in with the UN Secretary-General’s wider campaign “UNiTE to End Violence Against Women”, which he launched in 2008 to run through 2015, the target date for achieving the Millenium Development Goals.
As the UN Country Team in Viet Nam -- and as women and men working for the United Nations in support of Viet Nam’s achievement of the MDGs and equality for all -- we share with everyone here today a strong commitment to gender equality, to ending gender-based violence, and to raising the status of women in all fields of life.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The novelist and poet J. G. Holland once said that, “There is no great achievement that is not the result of patient working and waiting.”
Certainly patience and perseverance are important attributes to have as we work to effect social change, especially in such difficult and turbulent economic times. However, at the same time, let us be clear --- ending gender-based violence is an issue that simply cannot wait.
As Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said exactly a year ago when launching the global campaign (and I quote) – “Violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, in every country and in every culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence - yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned.”
Speaking out then at the highest levels against violence towards women is not only important – it is vital. What’s more, it is absolutely essential that men also voice their concern and take collective responsibility, not just for their own actions but also when witnessing violence. To remain silent when witness to violence is tacit approval – something which together we must have zero tolerance for.
As we meet today, a Delegation from Viet Nam led by MOLISA, with support from the UN Team here, is actively engaged in the Commission on the Status of Women discussions being held this week in New York. While some progress has been made, as the Secretary General reported to last year’s Commission on the Status of Women (and I quote):
“At least one out of every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the right even to exist.”
This reality of persistent gender inequality is at the very core of why we have all gathered here today to review progress and suggest further steps that need to be taken together – especially during this time of global economic contraction.
The Women’s Union’s outstanding mobilization of outreach is echoed by Viet Nam’s strong performance on gender equality, with Government commitment reflected in legislative frameworks that support gender equality and women’s empowerment.
In short, strong and enforced legislation is an indispensable tool in the fight against violence. That is why the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control that was passed by the National Assembly of Viet Nam in late 2007 is so important and why we as One UN are prioritizing our support to its implementation through our UN Programme Coordination Group on Gender and through our joint programming with MOLISA, GSO and other national partners including the Viet Nam Women’s Union. By explicitly defining and prohibiting domestic violence, the law provides a critical framework to protect victims of violence.
Importantly, Viet Nam has also made significant progress in other areas - there is no overall gender gap in primary or secondary education, the proportion of women and men participating in the workforce is almost equal and 25 percent of members of the National Assembly are women.
However, despite these achievements, Vietnamese women continue to face serious challenges and obstacles - including persistent poverty, limited access to higher education and employment opportunities, and still discriminatory attitudes and behavior. In still too many areas of Viet Nam, traditional attitudes that prop up discrimination and gender inequality continue to exist. Despite the significant economic role women often play, men typically still make the major financial decisions while Vietnamese women are responsible for smaller everyday financial decisions. Women’s participation in decision-making forums outside the home – whether in People’s Councils or in the Cabinet – is still too limited.
I know that many Organizations represented here today are very active in providing resources and establishing the conditions that allow women to have equal opportunities, and I hope that we can find ways to work even more closely together in the future in support of the Women’s Union and gender equality in Viet Nam.
Enhanced cooperation is particularly important at this time of tremendous global economic turmoil. While Viet Nam is home to many anecdotal stories of how the deepening economic downturn is negatively impacting the country, there is still too little robust data available to ascertain more precisely how the falling demand for exports, slowing in remittances and tourism and drop in foreign direct investment is impacting on growth prospects and social security. But what we do know is that at least 80,000 Vietnamese workers have lost their jobs in the first two months of 2009, with most of these being women working in the labour-intensive industries of footwear and textiles.
One example of progress in cooperation is in the area of gender-responsive budgeting. Worldwide more than 50 countries have now launched gender-responsive budgeting initiatives. The private sector is scaling up efforts to finance women’s economic empowerment, and women’s funds and foundations are emerging as innovative sources of financing. In Viet Nam, UNIFEM has just completed a scoping exercise to determine potential entry points to support this work in Viet Nam.
But we must do more. While gender equality is, first and foremost, a human right, empowering women is also an indispensable tool for advancing development, reducing poverty and minimizing the social impact of the current economic downturn. All of us -- Governments, multilateral and bilateral organizations, the Women’s Union and the private sector -- need to calculate the economic costs of persistent gender inequality here in Viet Nam, as well as the resources required to remedy it. Cooperation is essential, now more than ever, to ensure that the resources available for gender mainstreaming are sustainable and more predictable – and to see that economic empowerment, as Madame Hoa emphasized, truly happens.
Today, as we mark International Women’s Day together, let us reflect on the Secretary-General’s call which he will make later today in New York (and I quote):
“Changing mindsets and the habits of generations is not easy. It must involve all of us – individuals, organizations and governments. We must work together to state loud and clear, at the highest level, that violence against women will not be tolerated, in any form, in any context, in any circumstance.”
As the UN Country Team in Viet Nam, and as women and men united together to end violence, we look forward to deepening our cooperation with the Women’s Union and with all of you in the months and years to come to make this call a reality here too in Viet Nam.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
