Vietnamese NA Vice Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Thanh Highlights Key Priorities for Gender Equality at CSW 69
New York, The Gulf Observer: Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Nguyễn Thị Thanh outlined three key priorities for advancing gender equality in her keynote speech at the general debate of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) under the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Thanh emphasized the need to refine institutional, legal, and policy frameworks to ensure equal participation of women, particularly in decision-making roles across all sectors. She further stressed the importance of enhancing women’s economic empowerment by fostering public-private partnerships to mobilize resources effectively. Such efforts, she noted, would facilitate women’s access to financial services, markets, and entrepreneurship opportunities, while also expanding their roles in the digital and green economy and ensuring equal participation in the labor market. She called for recognizing, reducing, and redistributing unpaid domestic and caregiving work, as well as promoting the care economy.
Another priority Thanh highlighted was the promotion of women’s leadership in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), digital transformation, and innovation. She called for greater encouragement, support, and career guidance for women and girls, particularly in fields such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and the digital economy.
Thanh reaffirmed the significance of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the international community’s progress over the past 30 years. However, she also acknowledged ongoing challenges, including gender-based violence, poverty, diseases, and the digital divide, which continue to disproportionately impact women and girls. She cited projections indicating that eliminating extreme poverty among women could take 137 years and that gender parity in national parliaments might not be achieved before 2063.
Sharing Vietnam’s achievements, Thanh noted that women constitute nearly one-third of the National Assembly members; 40% of the country’s STEM workforce is female; 26.5% of businesses in Vietnam are owned by women; and women account for 68.5% of the labor force, surpassing the global average of 48.7%. Additionally, 14.4% of Vietnam’s peacekeepers are women, exceeding the UN average of 10.2%.
Vietnam is also actively promoting digital knowledge programs, particularly for women and girls. Thanh reaffirmed the country’s commitment to global gender equality efforts, including its role as a member of the UN Human Rights Council (2023–2025) and its upcoming membership in the UN Women Executive Board (2025–2027).
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), established in 1946, provides recommendations for advancing women’s rights in economic, social, political, and educational fields. It also monitors the implementation of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, offering policy guidance on emerging gender-related issues.
This year’s 69th CSW session gathered representatives from nearly 200 UN member states and observers, dozens of international organizations, and more than 200 non-governmental organizations. The session focused on reviewing three decades of progress since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.
In his opening remarks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned about persistent gender biases, violence, and discrimination—both in armed conflicts and online spaces—as well as economic inequality and declining international funding for gender equality initiatives. He reaffirmed that gender equality is a fundamental human right and called for greater investment in women and girls, expanded access to quality education, fair labor markets, and the elimination of unpaid labor disparities. Additionally, he urged the global community to combat gender-based violence and discrimination, including online harassment, and to ensure women’s participation in peacebuilding, decision-making, and emerging industries.
