The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on November 2 handed over 2,800 dignity kits to the Vietnam Farmers’ Union to support its female members at risk of violence in the central city of Da Nang.

UNFPA Chief Representative in Vietnam Naomi Kitahara

Earlier, 900 kits were transferred to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs for delivery to 17 social work centres nationwide, and the Centre for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender – Family – Women and Adolescents, and Anh Duong House designed for victims of gender-based violence in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The activity is part of the project named “Supporting interventions to eliminate violence against women and children in Vietnam under COVID-19 emergency context" funded by the Australian Government via its Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Speaking at the hand-over ceremony in Hanoi, UNFPA Chief Representative in Vietnam Naomi Kitahara said the UNFPA calls on governments and partners to consider sex and reproductive health of women and girls a priority and deal with the high risk of gender violence.

According to the estimate, domestic violence has increased by at least 30 percent in many countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Dignity Kit is a signature feature of the UNFPA's comprehensive package of humanitarian assistance to safeguard the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls, including gender-based violence risk mitigation and response and protecting the dignity of women and girls adversely affected by a crisis.

As an UN sexual and reproductive health agency, the UNFPA’s mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, every young person’s potential is fulfilled, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.