UN Women Applauds Vietnam’s Inaugural Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security
Hanoi, The Gulf Observer: Vietnam announced the launch of its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP WPS), a significant step forward in addressing the disproportionate vulnerabilities and discrimination faced by women and girls worldwide. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, emphasized the critical timing of this initiative in her video message, highlighting the global challenges impacting all and the continued need to protect and empower women and girls.
“UN Women stands ready to support the Government of Vietnam in extending partnerships and leveraging resources to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind,” Bahous affirmed, underscoring the international support for Vietnam’s efforts.
The NAP WPS is structured around the four core pillars of the Women, Peace, and Security agenda: participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery. Additionally, the plan includes a focus on international cooperation, demonstrating Vietnam’s commitment to working with the global community to advance the WPS agenda.
The action plan outlines specific goals for ensuring women’s full, equal, and meaningful participation in various sectors, including politics, diplomacy, national defense, and security. It also addresses gender-based violence and incorporates gender considerations into responses to conflict, crisis, disaster, and emerging security challenges such as climate change and cybersecurity.
To ensure the effective implementation of the NAP WPS, a workshop was conducted alongside the launch, led by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UN Women. The workshop identified clear coordination, strong partnerships, and investment as essential components for transforming the lives of women and girls and supporting broader efforts to sustain peace in Vietnam.
“The WPS agenda is wide-ranging and cross-cutting, requiring effective coordination among multi-stakeholders, including leaders and managers at all levels,” Bahous stated. “A clear and measurable plan for implementation provides a strong basis for financing and increased investment in the WPS agenda, with results that can be measured. This will help maintain momentum and continue to garner political support from key ministries and agencies in Vietnam.”
Vietnam has made significant progress in gender equality, with its global ranking improving from 83rd to 72nd out of 146 countries since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The country has also enacted the Gender Equality Law (2006), the National Strategy on Gender Equality (2021-2030), and the Domestic Violence and Protection Law (2022).
Internationally, Vietnam has been a vocal advocate for the Women, Peace, and Security agenda. The country led the proposal of UN Security Council Resolution 1889 in 2009, which focuses on women’s roles in post-conflict peacebuilding. During its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (2020-2021), Vietnam hosted an international conference on enhancing women’s roles in peacebuilding, resulting in the adoption of the Hanoi Commitment to Action with co-sponsorship from 75 UN member states.
Most recently, Vietnam’s commitment to promoting gender equality was further highlighted by its acceptance as a member of the Executive Board of UN Women for the term 2025-2027. UN Women has provided technical support to the Vietnamese Government for the development of the NAP WPS since 2021, with backing from the Governments of Canada, the UK, Australia, and the Republic of Korea.
