English Review
The 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting - "Social Security for Women and Girls Toward ASEAN Vision 2025"
03:44 PM 2018-10-27
(LDXH) On October 25th, the 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women with topic "Social Security for Women and Girls Toward ASEAN Vision 2025" was held in Hanoi. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attended the Meeting and had the opening speech.
Attending the Meeting was Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Dao Ngoc Dung, Chairman of the 3rd AMMW; Ms. Oan A-di-da, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Women, Family and Community Development of Malaysia, Mr. Kung Phoak, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN; Ministers in charge of women issues from ASEAN member countries; Ambassadors of ASEAN member countries in Vietnam; UN Women, UNICEF, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Delegation of the European Union (EU). On the Vietnamese side, there are leaders of the Party committees, the National Assembly, the ministries and branches concerned.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the delegates at the Meeting
In his speech, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that ASEAN could not become a community of unity, self-reliance, creativity and sustainable development without the important participation of women and girls. In order to do this, every woman, every girl, must have equal rights in her family and society, being educated, being developed, being protected, and perform her legitimate power.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had an important speech at AMMW 3
Recalling the comments made at the plenary session of the ASEM Summit on 18 October in Brussels, he said that: “Strengthening the economic power of women should become the internal content of national development strategy, implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal". On this enthusiasm, the Prime Minister appreciated the cooperation in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, in which the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women played an important role. Life expectancy of women in ASEAN has increased significantly. The educational opportunities have expanded, and the proportion of women attending parliament in many ASEAN countries has exceeded 20%. The number of women entrepreneurs has increased significantly recently. Many women take part in the Council, as chief executives of large business areas.
Minister of MOLISA Dao Ngoc Dung assumed the role Chairman of the 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women
In Vietnam, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the Government had proactively implemented priority initiatives in national programs and projects to promote gender equality and strengthen the social security for women and girls. Every year, the Government spends 2.6% of GDP on social support policies and programs, including women and girls. The highlight is the effort to implement the Gender Equality Law 2006 and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Vietnamese women make up more than 50% of the population, the rate of female labor force participation is 70.7% per year. The percentage of female-owned enterprises has increased, 98% of them was medium-sized, small and micro-enterprises. The percentage of women participating in the 14th National Assembly (2016 - 2021) reached 27.1%, higher than the region and the world. The proportion of women participating in social insurance accounts for nearly 50% of the total number of participants. The percentage of women who are scientific researchers, project owners, ministerial-level projects has increased significantly.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung had a speech at the meeting
However, besides those achievements, the Prime Minister pointed out that despite the fact that women make up 45% of the labor force in Southeast Asia with a population of over 640 million people and an increase in GDP Equally, the income of women in the region is generally lower than that of men in the same job, with a median difference of up to 25% in some countries. "These issues urge us to take action and have effective solutions to empower women in the future," said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
On the basis of the report of the Minister / Chairman of the Philippine Women's Committee, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc congratulated the Philippines on successfully completing the chairmanship of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women from 2015 to 2018. Accordingly, the Prime Minister assigned the task and wished the Minister of Labor- Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung a successful term, contributing to promoting the rights of women and girls, equality and social security, towards a sustainable ASEAN, for the benefit of all people.
The representative of ASEAN member countries and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Meeting
Towards the ASEAN Community is always a place to live, a safe and equal space for all, especially women and girls, the Prime Minister believes that the 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women will discuss, make strong recommendations to the senior leaders of ASEAN. On this occasion, he also emphasized 3 cooperation contents. The first content is training, enhancing new skills for women. Form a life-long learning network in ASEAN with the continuous transformation of careers in the context of the industrial revolution 4.0. The second one is to ensuring decent work for all, ending all barriers to women in accessing resources, especially employment. Thirdly, it is necessary to strengthen social security for women and girls, in particular, through the improvement of institutions, laws and social insurance policies; extend coverage to all subjects, including the informal sector and migrant workers.
Mr. Kung Phoak, Deputy Secretary - General of ASEAN was having his speech
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said that ASEAN has made important progress in gender equality and empowerment of women including the Declaration on Implementing the ASEAN Vision 2025 and Gender-responsive Sustainable Development Goals, the Manila Declaration on the Integration of Women's Economic Empowerment in ASEAN, Joint Declaration Women, Peace and Security, ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, etc… These are important documents guiding the implementation of activities of cooperation on women in ASEAN in the near future.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung affirmed that in order to reach a sustainable, self-reliant and dynamic community such as ASEAN Vision to 2025, a key task was to ensure social security for the people, improve the quality of life, ensure equal access to opportunities for all, especially for women and girls. On the role of Chairman of AMMW 3, he hoped that the Ministers and Heads of delegation of ASEAN member countries would share their message, priorities in the near future as a guideline for closer ASEAN co-operation, building a better life for more than half the population of ASEAN women and girls, for a Community of opportunity and equality, for an ASEAN where no one is left behind ...
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc took a photograph with the delegates of AMMW 3
Shortly after the Opening Ceremony, Ministers and delegations from ASEAN member countries moved to a joint session of the "Joint Declaration of the 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women."
The 4th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women will be held in Indonesia in 2021.
Chi Tam
Translated into English by Minh Ngoc.