UNFPA applauds Vietnam’s efforts in addressing gender-biased sex selection

Upon addressing the “South-South Consultation Workshop on Addressing Son Preference, Undervaluing of Girls, and Gender-Biased Sex Selections”, organised in Hanoi by UNFPA Asia and the Pacific, Andersson described the country's track record as "very good", adding that many good practices have emerged.

The official cited those working in the area of policy and legislative reform, including the impact of the Law on Population and the Law on Social Insurance, along with innovative schemes such as the fatherhood programme which puts Vietnam as a model country with good practices.

Today, approximately 140 million women are believed to be “missing” around the world as a result of son preferences and gender-biased sex selection. This can be viewed as a pervasive form of gender inequality and discrimination, according to Andersson.

The rise in sex selection can be considered alarming as it reflects the persistent low status and devaluing of women and girls in society, he stressed.

It is amid this context that the UNFPA is calling for renewed attention to the issue whilst accelerating efforts to develop policies, gather data, and undertake programming that ends all forms of gender-based discrimination, including son preferences and gender-biased sex selection, Andersson noted.

The event featured the participation of various representatives of government agencies and experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Georgia, all of who, shared experience in this regard in their respective countries.  

It also conducted a case study into the Global Programme on Addressing Gender-Biased Sex Selection (GBSS) in Asia 2020-2022 funded by the Government of Norway (NORAD), with a special focus on Bangladesh, Nepal, and Vietnam.

The purpose of the programme was to build on and strengthen evidence-based national policies and schemes to address son preferences, the low value of girls, and gender inequalities resulting in the GBSS.

In relation to Vietnam, the programme backs ongoing efforts by the Government to fully implement legal and policy frameworks as a means of ending this phenomenon.

This includes improving the country’s knowledge base on sex ratio at birth (SRB), innovative campaigning to change social norms and practices that reinforce son preferences and the low value of girls, and strengthening the capacities of the media. This could involve implementing a fatherhood programme and developing multi-stakeholder coordination mechanisms for addressing the GBSS.

The long-standing son preference in the nation is believed to be the main root cause of the sex imbalance at birth.

According to Vietnam’s 2019 Census, the probability of having a second child is higher for couples with a daughter than those with a son, 79.6% and 76%, respectively.

The latest sex ratio at birth across the country's 63 cities and provinces ranges from 109 to 219 boys per 100 girls. Indeed, in some northern provinces, the number of boys is twice that of girls.

Moving forward, it is anticipated that if the SRB stays at the present level, the excess of males aged 15 to 49 will be 1.5 million by 2034, rising to 2.5 million by 2059.