ASEAN
Womenโs significant contributions to ASEAN community highlighted
Women will contribute significantly to building a peaceful prosperous and sustainable ASEAN community by 2015, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the 14th General Assembly of the ASEAN Confederation of Womenโs Organisations (ACWO) that opened in Hanoi on October 19.
The event was attended by former State Vice Presidents Nguyen Thi Binh and Truong My Hoa, 200 delegates from the ACWO and scholars, managers and entrepreneurs from 10 ASEAN countries and ASEAN+3, along with representatives from foreign agencies and international organisations in Hanoi.
In a speech, chairwoman of the Vietnam Womenโs Union (VWU), Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, said as ACWO Chair in the 2008-2010 term, the VWU has fulfilled key tasks for enhancing womenโs role in society.
The 14th ACWO General Assembly on the theme of โEnhancing womenโs participation towards a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable ASEAN communityโ was a forum for regional women to promote cultural exchanges and share experiences in issues of common concern.
The PM highlighted the theme which affirms the role and advancement of ASEAN women in national development as well as in building the international community.
Throughout different eras in any nation, women have always held a special position in creating family happiness and boosting social development. Women have increasingly become equal to men in society and contribute enormously to the development of their country, the region and the world. Talented women can be seen in a variety of fields and many women have become leaders of nations, important international organisations and leading scientific research institutes as well as successful entrepreneurs.
To gain these achievements, over the past decades, women have bolstered solidarity and cooperation to fight for their rights and abolishing social injustice, gender discrimination, and prejudice in order to resolve regional and global issues, said Mr Dung.
In Vietnam, women have always played an important role in national defence and development. The Vietnamese Party and State attach great importance to enhancing the role of women, ensuring their rights and creating the best possible conditions for them to make contributions to the country. Consequently, laws on gender equality, family violence and the protection of womenโs rights have been revamped. Vietnam has implemented a national programme on womenโs advancement for the 2001- 2010 period in which many targets have been reached ahead of schedule. The country is currently drawing up a national strategy for gender equality in the 2011-2020 period.
Vietnamese women account for 26 percent of National Assembly (NA) deputies, more than many other countriesโ level, and many women are leaders of major Vietnamese businesses.
As a member of the ASEAN family and ASEAN Chair for 2010, Vietnam has spared no effort to cooperate with member countries to build the ASEAN community and realize the goals of gender equality and womenโs advancement.
Mr Dung expressed the hope that with the active participation and efforts of ACWO members, the meeting will put forward initiatives to bring womenโs creativity into full play and promote their advancement which will contribute to building the ASEAN community, particularly the social-cultural aspects.
PM Dung asked governments of ASEAN countries to support programmes and activities related to womenโs advancement and gender equality.
Email from: Ms. Wahyuningrum
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When: 7/2/2014
