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| Launch of Vietnam's National Report on 30 years of implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. (Photo: Thu Trang) |
The event marks an important milestone in Vietnam's three-decade journey to advance gender equality and empower women. The launch follows the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on September 22, 2025, marking the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, attended by representatives from over 100 countries. At the meeting, Vietnam reaffirmed its commitment to achieving its national gender equality targets by 2030.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha emphasized: “Economic development must go hand in hand with social progress and equity, placing women and children at the heart of all development policies. Vietnam is committed to strengthening state management systems and ensuring gender mainstreaming across all sectors and levels”.
Also speaking at the event, UN Women Representative in Vietnam Caroline Nyamayemombe stated: “UN Women remains committed to working alongside the Ministry of Home Affairs, government agencies, mass organizations, and development partners to translate Vietnam's strong political commitments into tangible results for women and girls — in every province, community, and family”.
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| Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha and UN Women Representative in Vietnam Caroline Nyamayemombe. (Source: UN Women) |
The report reviews the progress made since the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, assessing achievements and challenges in realizing the goals of the Beijing Platform for Action. It reaffirms Vietnam's strong political commitment to accelerating the implementation of international commitments on gender equality, in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Over the past three decades—particularly during the 2019–2023 period—the Government of Viet Nam has demonstrated strong determination to promote equal rights for women and men by improving its legal and policy framework. Gender equality has been consistently recognized as a cornerstone of social progress and sustainable development, with the principle of “leaving no one behind” integrated across national strategies, laws, and programmes.
Nationwide initiatives have been rolled out to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, promote gender equality communication, and strengthen women's participation in leadership and decision-making positions. These efforts—driven by government agencies and socio-political organizations at all levels—have led to remarkable achievements that have been recognized by the international community.
In recent years, Vietnam's legal and policy framework on gender equality has become more comprehensive, with significant progress in ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men. Key legislation such as the 2019 Labour Code, the 2022 Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control, the 2024 Law on Social Insurance, and the National Strategy on Gender Equality 2021–2030 have set out clear goals and actions to narrow gender gaps and promote equal participation in all aspects of social and economic life. These frameworks have laid a solid foundation for elevating women's status across all sectors.
Building on this progress, Vietnam has achieved notable results—reflected in both national achievements and international rankings. In 2024, Vietnam ranked 72nd out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index, moving up 11 places from 2022. Women currently hold 30.26% of seats in the National Assembly, among the highest in the Asia–Pacific region. Women account for 46.8% of the total labour force, with a female labour force participation rate of 62.4%. Women-owned enterprises make up 28.2% of all businesses, and the gender gap in basic education has been largely closed.
Vietnam has also strengthened health care for ethnic minority and migrant women, while services for survivors of gender-based violence have expanded and improved significantly in both reach and quality.
Despite these achievements, several challenges remain. Gender stereotypes persist, sex-disaggregated data remains incomplete, and emerging issues such as population ageing, climate change, natural disasters, and pandemics continue to affect livelihoods—especially those of women and children.
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| Delegates attending the conference. (Source: UN Women) |
