Vietnam’s permanent delegation to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Paris has attended the virtual launch of the Paris Hub of the International Gender Champions (IGC), during which Ambassador Le Thi Hong Van stressed Vietnam’s consistent commitment to promoting women’s role and potential.

Ambassador Le Thi Hong Van, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to UNESCO,
attends the virtual conference (Photo: VNA)

Those present at the event included Secretary-General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Martin Chungong, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the Generation Equality Forum Delphine O, along with ambassadors and permanent representatives of countries.

Participants shared the view that the COVID-19 pandemic with unprecedented impacts has been worsening inequality, undermining the achievements in narrowing the gender gap in recent years, and posing many challenges to women such as job losses, the digital and gender leadership gap widened in both the state and private sectors, gender-based violence, and the shortage of resources for women empowerment programmes.

They held that it is necessary to have an overall approach that closely associates gender equality with social progress and growth for sustainable, inclusive and resilient development. Women and girls should be placed at the centre of socio-economic recovery solutions in the face of the pandemic.

At present, every resource needs to be prioritised for promoting women’s power, especially economic power, mainstreaming the gender perspective into policies, guaranteeing women’s participation and leadership in all social aspects, and connecting efforts and mechanisms in each country and region with efforts by the entire world, they said.

With the Paris IGC Hub’s establishment, the delegates strongly affirmed the commitment and efforts to boost gender equality via increasing international cooperation, exchanging experience, devising measures, and attracting resources necessary for promoting women’s role and contributions.

Addressing the event, Ambassador Le Thi Hong Van, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to UNESCO, highlighted the county’s consistent policy of bringing into full play women’s role and huge potential in national development and defence, raising women’s position, and bolstering gender equality in all areas, from politics and economy to culture and society.

She also noted the initiatives and efforts by Vietnam, as Chair of ASEAN in 2020, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, and Chair of the 41st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), to foster cooperation in promoting gender equality and women empowerment, which could be seen in the successful organisation of the first ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit, the ASEAN Ministerial Dialogue on Strengthening Women’s Role for Sustainable Peace and Security, and the International Conference on Women, Peace and Security.

The important outcomes of those activities have helped step up international efforts in the promotion of gender equality in 2020, which marked the 20th anniversary of the UN Security Council’s Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security, and also the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, Van added.

At the meeting, participants highly valued Vietnam’s active and proactive contributions, as well as its growing stature in the international arena.

The IGC is a leadership network that brings together leaders of international organisations, permanent delegations, and research institutes. Founded in Geneva in 2015, it has been expanded with hubs in New York, Vienna, Nairobi, and The Hague. The Paris IGC Hub initiative was proposed at the Paris Peace Forum in 2019.