Vietnam calls on IPU to promote gender equality

Geneva, October 15 (VNA) - Vietnamese National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong said she hoped the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) would enhance its role in promoting gender equality as part of the post-2015 sustainable development targets. At the ongoing 131st IPU Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, the NA Vice Chairwoman stressed that gender equality was not only a target in its own right, but also a precondition for the advancement of women and social-economic development in any country. The Vietnamese NA has undertaken efforts to improve legislative and policy frameworks to implement human rights and gender equality, and eliminate violence against women, Phong said. She added that as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council in the 2014-2016 tenure, Vietnam was actively implementing its international commitments to promote and protect human rights, including women’s rights and the rights of children and girls, and to eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against them. Gender equality is a basic human right, which is considered an important measure of progress and development in society, Phong noted. She also stated that it was essential to boost links between national governments and legislative bodies all over the world; between the IPU and its member states’ parliaments; and UN organisations and international forums on women in an effort to uphold the rights of women and promote gender equality in the future. In recent years, many achievements have been made in the field of gender. In one third of developing countries, girls have a higher attendance at school than boys. Women account for more than 40 percent of the global workforce and their engagement in politics has increased substantially. However, violence against women remains a global challenge, with about one third of women and girls experiencing gender-based violence. The IPU Assembly under the theme “achieving gender equality and ending violence against women” evaluated the organisation’s efforts to enhance the participation of women in politics. It was found that IPU is currently in the lead in terms of the number of female legislators. Furthermore, the organisation’s recommendations on measures to improve legal and policy frameworks to give women a voice on the political stage have also had an impact in the field of gender equality. IPU is currently the largest inter-parliamentary union in the world, with 165 member states, and focuses on a number of areas, such as security, economics, democracy and the environment.-VNA