Hanoi (VNA) – On the occasion of the 93rd Vietnam Women’s Day (October20, 1930-2023) and the 50th anniversary of Vietnam - Australia diplomaticrelations (1973-2023), Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski reviewed the fruitfulpartnership on gender equality with V๊ietnam over the past time in an article.

According to the ambassador, since 2010, the twocountries have begun to explore areas of common interest to promote genderequality through development cooperation.  He recalled that at that time, Vietnam was ranked 72ndout of 134 countries in the World Economic Forum's 2010 Gender Gap Report and33rd in terms of women's economic opportunities and participation. This is an impressive achievement for a country that just escaped poverty and war, the diplomat said.  In2015, Vietnam succeeded in reducing its birth mortality rate by two-thirds andwas considered a global success story for gender equality in terms of access to basiceducation. Cooperation between the two countries in the early stage focused on women's access to essential service. Australia supported MSI Reproductive Choices inexpanding access to health services in rural districts and connecting women inrural areas to information and products related to sexual andreproductive health. It also assisted CARE International in carrying out microfinance andincome generation projects to improve livelihoods of women in rural areas. During this decade, Australia Awards Scholarship programme encouraged Vietnamese women to pursue their higher education in Australia. In 2014, the number of women receiving scholarships surpassed that of men, which has continued until now. Australia'seducational partnership with the Vietnam Center for Gender Studies and Women'sLeadership (GeLEAD) at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics designedextracurricular programmes to support women's participation in leadershipprogrammes. Ambassador Goledzinowski noted that the launch of Australia's Gender Equality andWomen's Empowerment Strategy in 2016 enhanced the two sides’ cooperation ongender equality. The two sides' gender equality projects have become larger inscale and reach and bilateral partnerships developed strongly. He shared that Australia has supported Vietnam in amending the 2007 Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. He went on to say that Vietnam isrecognised for the economic mobility of women, so women's economic empowermentis a strong area of cooperation between the two countries. Australia supports enhancing the roleof women in production and market development, especially in agriculture andtourism in Lao Cai and Son La provinces while removing their barriers toinformation, networks, and technology.  The ambassador noted that Australia, along withVietnam, is currently paying attention to gender aspects in high priorityagendas such as climate change and energy transition, digitalisation andinnovation, trade agreements, among others. By highlighting gender implicationsof policy choices in these areas, decisions can expand access to betteropportunities and protect against negative impacts on Vietnamese girls andwomen. Supporting gender equality enhances the country's prosperity andstability, he said. He concluded that Australiapledges to cooperate with Vietnam to continue to promote gender equality andmove towards equality for the two countries./.