Colombian ambassador highlights Vietnam’s progress in promoting gender equality
VOV.VN - Vietnam has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to promoting gender equality, making great strides in its sustained efforts to achieve its target, according to Colombian Ambassador Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Melo.
In a recent media interview conducted during the ongoing 13th National Women’s Congress in Hanoi, the diplomat said the governments of countries globally, including Vietnam, have been carrying out a range of policies and programmes to create development chances for women across a variety of fields. This is being done as part of wider efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality and women empowerment set out within the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
He hailed the country’s continual overhauling of the legal framework to guarantee equality for women as seen in the detailed regulations on gender equality in the Constitution and the adoption of the Law on Gender Equality in 2006, along with the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control one year later.
These legal tools hold a significant role amid the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly as gender inequality in the workplace, unfair housework distribution, and domestic violence increased, Ambassador Rodríguez went on to say.
Regarding the role of women, the Ambassador said that the term “weaker sex” has been used not only in Vietnam, but also in many other places around the world to describe women. However, the use of this term ignores the value, potential, and strength of both women and girls.
Amid the ongoing pandemic, the indispensable role of women in political, economic, and social development has been increasingly demonstrated, he said, adding that chapters of the Vietnam Women’s Union have worked unceasingly to protect gender equality. These efforts have thereby contributed to the realization of development targets, including in the national target scheme on new-style rural area building and the national startup programme.
Ambassador Rodríguez also highlighted Colombia’s progress in facilitating women’s participation in all socio-economic aspects.
He therefore affirmed that the 13th National Women’s Congress of Vietnam and the International Women’s Forum held in Colombia, both taking place almost at the same time, have served to open up plenty of opportunities for co-operation and experience in sharing gender equality promotion and women empowerment.