Since its adoption of a market economy in the last 1980s, Vietnam has become what some have referred to as a new “Asian Tiger.” Over the last 25 years, Vietnam’s economy has enjoyed an average annual growth rate of more than 6 percent. Between 1994 and 2014, 40 million people were lifted out of poverty, lowering the poverty rate from nearly 60 percent to 14 percent. These results have allowed the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) to enjoy significant domestic legitimacy.

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The post Why LGBT Rights Trump Environmentalism in Vietnam first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

In an attempt to continue promoting young women’s rights and gender equality, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs led the commemoration of International Day of the Girl Child in the Kingdom in partnership with Plan International Cambodia.

The celebration presided over by Im Sithe, Secretary of State of Ministry of Women’s Affairs, in Phnom Penh has seen the presence of more than 100 participants, including government officials from relevant ministries and NGO partners yesterday.

Im Sithe said that the women deserve the opportunities to live their lives same as men, they have their own rights, decision-making powers and freedom. Therefore , the government considers protecting the women’s right, especially young girls’,  as top most priority to help them live their dreams.

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Over the last 30 years, Vietnam’s HDI (Human Development Index) has grown by 46%, amongst the biggest jump in the world.

A United Nations report titled “Human Development and the Anthropocene” released last week places Vietnam at 117^th out of 189 nations in terms of overall development. In the 2019 report, Vietnam ranked 118^th out of 189.

The study examining the state of the world during the age of human dominion notes Vietnam’s positive advances in health, education, employment, and rural development. Gender equality scored particularly well, with Vietnam scoring a Gender Development Index value of 0.997, ranking 65^th out of 162 countries. Teacher training, rural electrification and low unemployment are all cited as positive aspects of the nation’s growth.

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The post Vietnam Slightly Advances on UN Human Development Index to No. 117 of 189 first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

Vietnam is forecast to face a severe gender imbalance by 2026, with an excess of 1.38 million males, according to the General Statistics Office.

Speaking at a recent workshop involving nearly 200 women and collaborators in population affairs in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, Dr Mai Xuan Phuong, Deputy Director of the General Office for Population and Family Planning’s Communication-Education Division, said the imbalance has been on the rise and will be sustained in the years to come, with the sex ratio at birth increasing in both urban and rural areas.

Phuong attributed the situation to a number of factors, including a preference for boys, inefficient social security policies, and the advent of sex-selective technology. Sex selective abortion is a pressing issue now and will be into the future, he stressed.

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Families are choosing to have more boys than girls, and experts worry this will cause problems in the future.

SGGP reports that new data from the United National Population Fund (UNFPA) shows that in 2019, Vietnam’s sex ratio was 111.5 boys per 100 girls, an imbalance behind only China and India. 

Vietnam’s gender ratio has been imbalanced since 2006, and Phạm Vũ Hoàng, deputy head of the General Office for Population and Family Planning, told the news source that this issue began in Vietnam later than some other Asian countries, but has worsened quickly. 

Back in 2006, the sex ratio was 104–106 boy per 100 girls, a disparity that has only grown since. In 2010 and 2015, the figure was 111.2 boys and 112.8 boys per 100 girls, respectively. Within the country, different regions have differing imbalances as well, with rural provinces having higher ratios than urban areas. 

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The post Vietnam Has 3rd-Highest Sex Ratio Imbalance in the World, Report Says first appeared on Open Development Mekong.

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) co-hosted an event on September 24 to release the independent Review of Ten Years of Implementing the Law on Gender Equality.

In her remarks, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha said Vietnam has seen encouraging progress in promoting gender equality, with positive changes in attitudes and behaviours among power holders, civil servants and citizens, contributing to heightening the role and position of women in the family and society.

Ha, who is also Standing Vice Chairperson of the National Committee for the Advancement of Women in Vietnam, noted that the country has been recognised by the international community for its efforts in gender equality, adding that the enforcement of the law, however, still faces various challenges.

Both men and women actually suffer the impact of gender inequality but women and girls are the most vulnerable, she noted.

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Civil society organisations yesterday identified physical, mental and sexual violence against women are still challenges yet to be addressed by the government.

The NGOs also said the government has not done enough to open doors for women in institutions.

Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said the promotion of gender equality in the Kingdom is making significant progress, with many women contributing to development.

Ms Sopheap said however the number of women in senior leadership government positions is less than ideal.

“We have observed in the government, the key people in leadership positions are mostly men,” she said. “The government has to put in great effort in integrating more women in major decision-making processes.”

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More than 80 experts from governmental agencies, domestic and international organizations, and academia attended “The launching workshop on the review of the National Strategy on Gender Equality and the development of the new National Strategy on Gender Equality 2021-2030” in Hanoi on December 6.

The workshop was jointly held by the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Australian Embassy in Vietnam.

Vietnam is one of the countries which has strong commitment in implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action and Sustainable Development Goals SDGs.

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It is necessary to further promote public awareness of women’s empowerment, especially their political participation, although the percentage of women in Vietnam’s parliament is currently higher than the global average, said a minister.

At a conference reviewing the 10-year implementation of the Law on Gender Equality held in Hanoi on October 17, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung noted an important change over the past years is that there has been an observable improvement in men’s awareness of the role of women and girls, which can be seen in each family.

For the time ahead, it is necessary to further promote public awareness of the empowerment of women, especially their right to participate in politics, he said.

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It might be the most dynamic region in the world but the Asia Pacific isn’t meeting its economic potential, and some of that has to do with gender equality, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. Targeted policies to achieve more women’s equality in Asia-Pacific economies could add $4.5 trillion to the region’s combined annual gross domestic product by 2025, or 12 percent better than if the status quo were maintained, MGI, the business and economics research arm of McKinsey & Co., said in a report Tuesday.

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The post Gender Inequality Could Be Costing Asia Pacific $4.5 Trillion first appeared on Open Development Mekong.