Two Vietnamese among world's 100 most influential women
Founder of a vocational training center for disabled people, Van Thi Nguyen, and conservationist Trang Nguyen are in the BBC 100 women 2019 list.
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Van Thi Nguyen and her husband. Photo by VnExpress/Phan Duong. |
She told the BBC "We have had more than 1,000 graduates, 80 to 90 percent of them are now employed. Some of them are their family’s breadwinners."
Van, 33, wants the environment in Vietnam to enable people with talent and devotion to develop, "instead of people feeling like they need to move abroad to use their skills."
Seeking to create an equal working environment for everyone, she also runs social enterprise Imagator, which employs 80 people, half of them disabled.
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Trang at Burger Zoo, Netherlands. Photo courtesy of Trang Nguyen. |
Trang, 29, is also the founder of WildAct, that monitors the illegal wildlife trade and organizes education programs for youth.
"For the future of nature conservation, it is important that women's voices are heard and their actions are recognized," the BBC quoted Trang as saying.
Last year she won the nature conservation prize, the Future For Nature Award, and was nominated for the Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia for her contribution in global wildlife conservation.
The BBC’s annual list, which this year poses the question what the future would look like if it were driven by women, also includes U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mexican Oscar nominee Yalitza Aparicio, and Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg.