Vietnam strongly supports the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) in gender equality and female empowerment, said Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha at the ASEAN-EU dialogue on gender equality and empowerment for women and girls in Hanoi on October 22.
Participants attended the high-level dialogue. Photo: Anh Kiet
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The dialogue focused on the theme of “Implementing Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG5): Gender equality at work” and was convened as part of the week-long events leading to the 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW3) and related meetings underway from October 18 to 25.
The event brought together high-level officials from the EU and the ASEAN member states, who are responsible for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
Addressing the event, the deputy minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs emphasized that gender equality at work is one of the important measures to promote economic power, a prerequisite for empowering women in all aspects of life.
Vietnam has developed legal frameworks to promote female empowerment in the economy through models, career education, job creation and promoting gender equality at work, Ha noted.
She said gender equality has made certain progress in ASEAN countries in general and Vietnam in particular, adding that the dialogue is very important in the run-up to the AMMW3 on "Social security for women and girls in ASEAN Vision 2025".
For her part, Director for People and Peace, Director General for International Cooperation and Development, European Commission Henriette Geiger said: “Equality between women and men is one of the fundamental values of the EU enshrined in the EU treaties. The EU promotes gender equality within its own borders, as well as in its relations with partner countries, notably in its development cooperation activities.”
Henriette Geiger stressed that ASEAN and the EU have been committed partners in the protection and the promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments to which ASEAN Member States are parties.
“ASEAN is committed to achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls as enshrined in ASEAN Vision 2025 and embedded in key ASEAN instruments,” said Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Kung Phoak.
He noted that the year 2017 has been a successful year for ASEAN in championing the case of women and girls.
Emphasizing Vietnam’s role in promoting promoting gender equality and female empowerment between the ASEAN and the EU, Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said that this dialogue aims to serve as an inaugural platform for discussions and exchanges on challenges, good practices as well as evidence-based solutions on the implementation of SDG 5 and other gender-relevant SDGs in both regions.
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but also a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world, Dung said.
He noted despite acknowledging the progress achieved to date, women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world as well as Vietnam, adding that the SDG5 aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls which are regarded as precondition for the attainment of all SDGs targets and indicators.
