English Review
Viet Nam assumes the chairmanship of the ASEAN Committee on Women
03:43 PM 2018-10-27
(LDXH) - On October 23, the 17th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Women (ACW) took place in Hanoi. There were 10 Heads / Focal Points in charge of the ACW, delegations from 10 ASEAN countries and representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat attending the meeting.
This is the annual consultation meeting of the ACW organized by the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) in cooperation with the ASEAN Secretariat and one of the activities within the framework of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW) 3 in Vietnam.
The overview of the meeting
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Deputy Minister of MOLISA Nguyen Thi Ha emphasized that Vietnam was very honored to assume the role of Chair of ACW and especially the Chair of ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women. She appreciated the Committee, which is a mechanism for women's cooperation and a better future for women throughout the region. Moreover, she also congratulated Thailand for its outstanding role as the ACW Chairmanship in the past year and believed that Vietnam would take good care of the role and hope to receive cooperation and support from member countries in ASEAN.
Deputty Minister Nguyen Thi Ha said that ACW was a mechanism for women's cooperation and a better future for women throughout the region
Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Ha also said that in recent years, ACW has really contributed to the empowerment of women, promote gender equality in the region. ASEAN's commitments and priorities in the area of ​​social security, women and gender equality have been increasingly focused and promoted. A number of Declarations and Documents have been adopted, for example: the ASEAN Declaration on Strengthening Social Security and the ASEAN Declaration on Violence Against Women and Violence Against Women with children in 2013; Framework and Action Plan to implement the ASEAN Declaration on Promoting Social Security and the Regional Action Plan on Violence Prevention for Women, the Action Plan on Violence Prevention for Children in 2015. Thanks to their commitments, ASEAN has made positive achievements in the implementation of ASEAN priorities related to women's issues at various levels of political, economic and social life, thereby contributing to promoting gender equality and empowering women.
Vietnam is honored to assume the role of Chair of ACW 
In Viet Nam, gender stereotypes and gender equality challenges still remain. Therefore, women have limited access to labour market. Many women are underpaid, particularly in the informal economy and lack access to social security. Accordingly, social security policies and programs need to be considered for gender, including social services for specific populations such as victims of sexual violence or trafficking. On the other hand, in the context of the rapidly aging population of the region, with the number of women living longer than men, the old, lonely and helpless women, some issues in social services for these people should be noticed by the ASEAN member countries.
The delegates took a group photo at the Meeting
At the 17th ACW Meeting, delegates were briefed by the ASEAN Secretariat on the achievements of the Commission since the 16th ACW Meeting and related Decisions and Declarations to women and gender equality, adopted by the ASEAN Leaders in 2017. The meeting noted the results of implementation of projects, activities and initiatives within the framework of the Work Plan period 2016 – 2020 of the ACW, as well as the practice of the Committee's priorities on the eradication of violence against women; strengthening economic empowerment for women; elimination on gender stereotypes and sexually discriminatory languages ​​in documents and curricula at all levels; gender mainstreaming on all three pillars of the ASEAN Community.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Ha discussed with the representative of the ASEAN Secretariat
The Vietnamese delegation presented the report on the project Gender mainstreaming in the labour and employment policies towards decent work for all people, chaired by Vietnam in 2017-2020. They also considered to collaborate with UN Women to hold a discussion on the sidelines of Women's Union General Meetings. In particular, with the theme of "Social Security for Women and Girls Towards Awareness of the ASEAN Community in 2025," ASEAN hoped to work with UN Women to launch a publication on social security for women and girls in ASEAN and debut the sidelines events in New York.
The delegates from ASEAN member countries attended at the meeting
According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Ha, "Social security for women and girls towards ASEAN Vision 2025" is chosen by Viet Nam because it is the a premise, the foundation to promote their potential in society. This is an opportunity for countries to share more national initiatives and policies, as well as to propose solutions to promote social security for women and girls. Thus, in addition to the efforts of the Commission, Vietnam encouraged ACW to promote and broaden its partnership, thereby providing more technical and financial support to carry out their priority activities.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Director of International Cooperation Department, discussed with representatives of ASEAN member countries.
The 17th meeting of the ACW discussed the draft joint statement of the 3rd ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW) and relevant documents for submission to the Ministers for consideration and approval at the Meeting. Within the framework of ACW, the delegates also held open meetings with potential partners including the ASEAN Women's Union (ACWO), UN Women, ASEAN-USAID to update on the progress of cooperation and promote further cooperation in the future.
Ha Giang – Chi Tam
Translated into English by Minh Ngoc