HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Phạm Bình Minh stressed the indispensable role of women in solving conflicts and promoting sustainable peace when chairing the ASEAN Ministerial Dialogue on Strengthening Women’s Role for Sustainable Peace and Security on September 10.

The online event was held within the framework of the 53rd ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings.

Minh reaffirmed support for the ASEAN Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda, while recalling the UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security which has served as a foundation for the international community to boost women’s engagement in all aspects of peace, preventing conflicts and protecting women’s rights.

He said that despite wide awareness about the important role of women in the peace process, women have yet to be extensively present in preventing and mediating conflicts.

At the dialogue, participants discussed how to intensify the role and joint actions of ASEAN women so as to strengthen substantive and sustainable peace, security and prosperity in the region.

They affirmed the importance as well as role of women in not only political-security but also socio-economic fields.

Ambassador Nguyễn Phương Nga, President of the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations, suggested ASEAN exert more efforts to mainstream gender issue in the ASEAN Community’s three pillars, and prioritise gender equality and the implementation of the WPS agenda in the post-2025 ASEAN Community Vision.

It is also important to include peace-building strategies in ASEAN in plans to realise the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, she said, adding that Việt Nam also sent female peacekeepers to Africa to help locals in agricultural techniques and sew face masks to prevent COVID-19.

Countries in the region agreed to strengthen activities of the ASEAN Women for Peace Registry (AWPR) and boost the inclusion of the WPS agenda in programmes and policies in all pillars of the ASEAN Community. 

They also pledged to deepen cooperation between ASEAN and partners through frameworks and mechanisms such as ASEAN Plus One, ASEAN Plus Three, East Asia Summit, and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus. — VNS