Colonel Phùng Thị Phú, head of the Military Women's Board makes a speech at the conference to review the implementation of the Action Plan for servicewomen’s advancement and gender equality in the term of 2016-2020. Photo qdnd.vn

HÀ NỘI — Female staff in military units have more opportunity to improve their professional qualifications nowadays, proven by the increase in the numbers of female leaders in the past five years, the Military Women's Board under the Ministry of National Defence has said.

Colonel Phùng Thị Phú, head of the Military Women's Board, was speaking at a conference held yesterday to review the implementation of the action plan for servicewomen’s advancement and gender equality in 2016-2020.

Phú said the percentage of female cadres in leadership in the military has increased from 2.43 per cent in 2016 to 2.97 per cent this year.

The average rate of women admitted to the Party has accounted for 9.11 per cent of total each year, and the rate of those participating in the Party Committees at all levels has reached 2.62 per cent.

Up to now, three out of 10 units are led by female cadres. Four female officers have been promoted to the position of general.

In labour and employment, the ratio of newly-recruited female labourers accounts for more than 50 per cent, and up to 47 per cent have been given a pay rise.

In the past term, all of the female cadres have held college or higher degrees and more than 40 per cent have post-graduate degrees.

The Ministry of National Defence has recruited 830 female citizens to the military in many fields such as military medicine, engineering, and logistics, creating high-quality female human resources for the military.

Phú said in 2021-2025, the units would focus on increasing the number of female cadres holding key positions in the military.

Speaking at the event, Senior Lieutenant General Lê Chiêm, head of the Committee for the Advancement of Servicewomen, hailed the achievements of individuals and units and asked them to continue implementing the instructions and resolutions of the Party, State and the Central Military Commission on military women and gender equality.

The committee has required the Military Women's Board to prepare for major missions in the next years. It should devise measures and direct its affiliates to implement the action programme to build a contingent of professional female cadres and raise the ratio of female cadres in the Party Committees at all levels.

To meet this end, affiliates of the Board for the Advancement of Servicewomen at all levels should renovate methods and forms of their activities while promoting their roles and effectively advising the Party committees and commands on military women and gender equality affairs. — VNS