Ramie farmers in Sơn La Province happy with their labour results thanks to support from Australian Government-funded Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT) Program in the province. — Photo courtesy of Aus4Equality

HÀ NỘI — On the 93rd Việt Nam Women’s Day (October 20, 1930-2023) and the 50th anniversary of Việt Nam-Australia diplomatic relations (1973-2023), Australian Ambassador to Việt Nam Andrew Goledzinowski reviewed the fruitful partnership on gender equality with Việt Nam.

According to the ambassador, since 2010, the two countries have explored areas of common interest to promote gender equality through development cooperation. 

He recalled that at that time, Việt Nam was ranked 72nd out of 134 countries in the World Economic Forum's 2010 Gender Gap Report and 33rd in terms of women's economic opportunities and participation. This is an impressive achievement for a country that just escaped poverty and war, the diplomat said. 

In 2015, Việt Nam succeeded in reducing its birth mortality rate by two-thirds and was considered a global success story for gender equality in terms of access to basic education.

Cooperation between the two countries in the early stage focused on women's access to essential service. Australia supported MSI Reproductive Choices in expanding access to health services in rural districts and connecting women in rural areas to information and products related to sexual and reproductive health. It also assisted CARE International in carrying out microfinance and income generation projects to improve livelihoods of women in rural areas.

During this decade, the Australia Awards Scholarship programme encouraged Vietnamese women to pursue their higher education in Australia. In 2014, the number of women receiving scholarships surpassed that of men, which has continued until now. Australia's educational partnership with the Việt Nam Center for Gender Studies and Women's Leadership (GeLEAD) at the Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics designed extracurricular programmes to support women's participation in leadership programmes.

Ambassador Goledzinowski noted that the launch of Australia's Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Strategy in 2016 enhanced the two sides’ cooperation on gender equality. Gender equality projects have become larger in scale and reach, and bilateral partnerships developed strongly.

He shared that Australia has supported Việt Nam in amending the 2007 Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. He went on to say that Việt Nam is recognised for the economic mobility of women, so women's economic empowerment is a strong area of cooperation between the two countries. Australia supports enhancing the role of women in production and market development, especially in agriculture and tourism in the two northern mountainous provinces of Lào Cai and Sơn La, while removing their barriers to information, networks, and technology. 

The ambassador noted that Australia, along with Việt Nam, is currently paying attention to gender aspects in high priority agendas such as climate change and energy transition, digitalisation and innovation, trade agreements, among others. By highlighting gender implications of policy choices in these areas, decisions can expand access to better opportunities and protect against negative impacts on Vietnamese girls and women. Supporting gender equality enhances the country's prosperity and stability, he said.

He concluded that Australia pledges to cooperate with Việt Nam to continue to promote gender equality and move towards equality for the two countries. — VNS