Through concrete evidence and data measured against key socio-economic indicators, the report demonstrates the progress Vietnam has made towards gender equality and puts forth actionable recommendations on how to address remaining barriers with the goal of fulfilling the country’s gender equality-related targets under the Sustainable Development Goals.

This report is the first-of-its-kind in Vietnam. It takes a broader lens on gender equality to include discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation, and to highlight data relevant to intersectional identity – such as ethnicity, disability and age, etc.

Opening the launching event of the report, Ms. Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Country Representative of UN Women in Vietnam, said “This report’s analysis underlines that gender equality is intrinsic to the very quality, durability, and advances made to Vietnam’s socio-economic development. Therefore, unless progress on gender equality is significantly accelerated, the Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved. This is an urgent call for action, and the report recommends the directions to follow”.

Conducted over the course of a year, the Vietnam country gender equality profile (CGEP) represents the collective knowledge, advice, and dedication of many agencies and individuals, combining national and international expertise. This multi-agency effort has identified gender issues and disparities in every sector under examination: governance, labor, agriculture, business, transport and connectivity, urban development, family life, social protection, migration and climate change.

Speaking at the launch, Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie said: “We have invested in this data collection because of a belief in the power of evidence – to stimulate debate, and drive policy, services and opportunities. For Australia, the 16 Key Recommendations describe where we should focus our gender equality partnership with the Government of Vietnam, and where we can support groups who face complex, intersecting disadvantage”.

This report was finalized as Vietnam was responding to its fourth wave of COVID-19 and, unfortunately, sex-disaggregation of the official case numbers are not available. However, unlike previous global public health and financial crises, COVID-19 has been singularly detrimental for women and girls, and has exposed gendered fault lines in the economy and social structures.

The report provides a wide range of recommendations for change, highlighting three key areas of action: (1) Strengthening the implementation of existing gender equality commitments; (2) Addressing the underlying barriers to gender equality; and (3) Driving gender equality progress in the coming decade.

Vietnam country gender equality profile aims to serve as a primary source of evidence to drive the prioritization of financing, programming and advocacy to advance gains and overcome bottlenecks to gender equality in Vietnam. It is intended that the CGEP will also contribute to Vietnam’s monitoring of gender equality-related targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals./.