Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh speaks at a plenary session of the second Eurasian Women’s Forum in Saint Petersburg on Thursday.— VNA/VNS Photo Dương Trí

MOSCOW — Việt Nam is paying more and more attention to institutionalising gender equality and the empowerment of women, said Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh at a plenary session of the second Eurasian Women’s Forum in Saint Petersburg on Thursday.

Thịnh said that Việt Nam had set specific targets in this field, including increasing the participation of women in management and leadership positions, narrowing the gender gap in economic and labour fields, offering more opportunities for poor women in rural areas and ethnic minority women, increasing the quality of female workers, and ensuring gender equality in all aspects and in the family.

The country had gained positive results, as seen in the rate of women holding positions in the National Assembly and all-level People’s Councils reaching 26-27 per cent, the rate of women participating in economic activities at 85 percent and the proportion of trained female workers at 55 per cent.

Vietnamese women were taking the initiative and actively taking part in start-ups and international integration, she added.

She said that changes in the global situation such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution and international integration had brought many opportunities to women. However, they were facing a lot of challenges caused by uneven development, conflict, terrorism, natural disasters, climate change and increasing protectionism.

This requires the international community, including the Eurasian Women’s Forum, to join hands to solve these challenges.

Vice President Thịnh called on women around the world to take the initiative to boost economic connectivity and international cooperation, and improve their knowledge by themselves to avoid being left behind.

Every nation should consider ensuring gender equality and female empowerment as a priority task, she suggested.

She also expressed her hope that women would expand international collaboration to contribute more to the implementation of sustainable development goals.

On the sidelines of the forum, Thịnh had meetings with Russian Federal Council Chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko and Governor of Saint Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko.

This year’s forum, themed “Women for Global Security and Sustainable Development”, attracted about 2,000 delegates from more than 100 countries around the world. — VNS