Friendship insignia awarded to UN Women Representative in Vietnam: VUFO President Nguyen Phuong Nga presents insignia to UN Women Representative in Vietnam Elisa Fernandez. (Photo: VNA)

It is the VUFO’s most noble distinction to honour Fernandez’s valuable contributions to the effective cooperation between the United Nations and Vietnam as well as the development of Vietnam, particularly the advancement of Vietnamese women.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Nga said more than a decade ago, UN Women was established with a mission to promote the welfare of women and girls worldwide. During her five-year tenure as UN Women Representative in Vietnam since 2017, Fernandez and UN Women Vietnam have successfully launched many programmes and projects related to national quality, women's rights, social security, gender-based violence prevention and response.

With her experience, dedication, and enthusiasm, Fernandez has assisted the Vietnamese agencies and people's organisations in achieving gender equality, empowering women and girls, and effectively fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals. She has proposed many initiatives to strengthen dialogue and coordination between governments, UN agencies, and other stakeholders on gender equality as well as enhance Vietnam’s participation in and implementation of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda.

In particular, Fernandez initiated the Women's Leadership Dialogue series - a friendly space for women to share leadership experience, listen and discuss with female leaders from around the world, Nga said.

Ambassador Nga affirmed that the VUFO was honoured to successfully co-organize the dialogue "Women and Diplomacy: Women Leadership Series" with the participation of Fernandez as one of the speakers.

UN Women Representative Ferdenanz, for her part, affirmed that following her tenure in Vietnam, she will continue to support the country and make contributions to promoting gender equality worldwide.