The VWU is an important partner of the UN. Through our strong partnership and collaboration many significant steps have been taken to improve the lives of Vietnamese women in the areas of climate change; the number of women in decision making positions; gender sensitive business development and micro-insurance services for female entrepreneurs; prevention of human trafficking; addressing domestic and gender-based violence, strengthening the role of Vietnamese women as mothers; and in the implementation of the Law o­n Gender Equality and the Law o­n Domestic Violence.

In the area of climate change for instance, the UN has partnered with the VWU o­n a number of joint activities, including most recently a project o­n empowering women at the grassroot level to participate in disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management activities and training in the face of natural disasters.

Increasing the number of women in decision making positions is also a priority for the UN and the VWU. Through the support of the Empowerment of Women in the Public Sector project, implemented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the VWU has conducted a research study analyzing the policies for training women in the public sector. The study recommendations have been shared with the Secretary of the Communist Party, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Home Affairs. In addition, the project has supported the VWU to conduct training of female candidates in preparation for the 2011 Provincial People's Council elections.

Furthermore, the UN has supported the VWU to provide improved and more gender sensitive business development and micro-insurance services for women entrepreneurs. Training of facilitators from the VWU has been provided o­n entrepreneurship and skills development tools and the capacity of the VWU to provide financial and technical education for poor women has been built.

Working in collaboration, the VWU and the UN work to prevent human trafficking, through initiatives such as the development of a communication strategy and related materials and the implementation of behavior change communication campaigns at the community level, the partnership works to protect the legitimate right of Vietnamese people.

Working together, the VWU and the UN are helping to draw attention to the role of Vietnamese women as mothers. The project strengthens the role of mothers by supporting women from pre-pregnancy, through to child birth, as nursing mothers, mothers to toddlers, teenage mothers and working mothers. This leads to Vietnamese women more knowledgeable and healthier mothers.

Finally, the Viet Nam Joint Programme o­n Gender Equality brings together twelve UN agencies working o­n gender issues (FAO, ILO, IOM, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIDO, UN Women, UNODC and WHO). The project has worked with the VWU to coordinate and build the capacity of national and provincial duty bearers so that they can better implement the Law o­n Gender Equality and Law o­n Domestic Violence. In addition the partnership provides support to conceptualize and conduct thematic research and targeted activities o­n issues such as gender based violence, human trafficking and internal migration.

The United Nations in Viet Nam has just finished developing its programming framework for the period 2012 to 2016 in which gender features strongly. We look forward to continue working closely with the Viet Nam Women’s Union as a key partner in the coming five years and to continue our cooperation to protect the rights and interests of all Vietnamese women.