Việt Nam keeps prioritising gender equality promotion: diplomat

Đỗ Hùng Việt, Assistant to the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs (centre) meets with Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG) Tatiana Valovaya (right) on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo

As a candidate for the membership of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) for 2023-25, Việt Nam will continue prioritising the commitments to promote gender equality and women empowerment, an official has said.

Đỗ Hùng Việt, Assistant to the Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs, made the remarks while attending the annual debate on women’s rights at the HRC’s 50th regular session in Geneva on Monday.

In his speech, Việt highlighted the important role of women, stressing the need to ensure their rights and development opportunities through specific and effective support policies.

He also shared Việt Nam experience and efforts in this regard, noting Việt Nam is one of the countries with the longest maternity leaves in the world.

Emphasising the country’s priority for gender equality promotion and women empowerment, he added Việt Nam was ready to cooperate with other countries in these common efforts.

At the debate, participants underlined the necessity to build comprehensive and effective policies for ensuring gender equality and rights of women, who are in charge of a huge domestic workload but unpaid or underpaid, which has subsequently affected women’s full participation in economic, social, educational, and healthcare activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this inequality, requiring countries to pay due attention and conduct proper settlement during the post-pandemic recovery process, they noted, calling for social security measures to be enhanced and favourable conditions created for workers to temporarily withdraw from the labour market to care for families and thus ease the burden on women.

Also on June 27, Việt had a meeting with Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG) Tatiana Valovaya.

He noted Việt Nam’s support for multilateralism to be brought into play in the settlement of the international community’s common concerns.

The official affirmed that the country would increase its proactive and active participation in multilateral forums in Geneva, including running for seats in the international organisations and holding events to popularise Việt Nam among the diplomatic community here.

Valovaya highly valued Việt Nam’s commitment to promoting multilateralism and enhancing the role of international organisations, adding that she was impressed with Vietnamese senior leaders’ engagement in the events held by UN organisations recently.

The UNOG would continue assisting the country in popularising its images as well as boosting cooperation potential at international organisations in Geneva, she went on, adding that Việt Nam's proactive participation in different aspects would also contribute to cultural persification in the organisations’ activities here.