Hanoi (VNA) - More than 500 delegates representing ministries, Government agencies, businesses, the United Nations, Embassi𓂃es, and NGOs joined hands to commit to promoting gender equality and ending violence. They did so at the launch ceremony of the National Action Month on Gender Equality and Gender-based Violence Prevention and Response 2023 on November 10 at Vietnam Airlines headquarters.

Themed “Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women & Girls”, the action month represents Vietnam's focus in promoting gender equality, to promote the role of women and men for the development of the community and family. Minister of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung affirmed Vietnam's commitments to ensuring gender equality and increasing women’s empowerment. She emphasised the important role of communications on gender equality. “There will be no gender equality without men's participation in household work and an end to violence against women and girls. Women need to improve their autonomy and assertiveness to participate more actively in all areas of the economy. Along with that, men also need to build confidence that they can take on and perform well the role of taking care of the family, which is part of the solution to end violence against women," Dung emphasised. To address gender inequality in Vietnam, Dung stressed that in addition to laws, policies and programmes to ensure social welfare, communication is identified as the most important task to change behaviour and move towards achieving gender equality.

Pauline Tamesis, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, said that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, natural disasters, and war increase gender-based violence and worsen the economic difficulties of households.

To minimise their impact, investing in prevention is essential, as it not only helps women, children, and families, ꧃but also makes national economies healthier and more sustainable.

Dang Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Airlines shared the company’s commitment to strongly responding to the action month with practical, new, and creative actions. Vietnam Airlines stands ready to cooperate and exchange with agencies and organizations to improve operational efficiency and widely spread good messages and values. Vietnam Airlines will run two "Orange Sky" flights from Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi- Incheon (Republic of Korea). These two special flights will blend in orange with the "World Orange Bowl" campaign - solidarity in action to end gender-based violence. The event takes place for 16 days (November 25 - December 10) across the globe. The action month has been held annually from November 15 to December 15 since 2016. To date, more than 10 million people have taken part in the programme, contributing to raising awareness of gender equality and gender-based violence prevention./.