UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pratibha Mehta conferred Merit Medal “For the development of Vietnamese Women”

On behalf of VWU leaders, President Nguyen Thi Thu Ha congratulated Ms. Pratibha Mehta o­n the successful completion of her mission in Vietnam and her new assignment.

Expressing her thanks to the UN agencies in general and Ms. Pratibha Mehta in particular for their support for Vietnamese women and the VWU over the past years, VWU President emphasized that UNRC term of office has seen various VWU-UN cooperation activities.

The VWU’s programs and projects sponsored by the United Nations have achieved good results, especially the projects “Strengthening women’s capacity in disaster risk reduction to cope with climate change” (UN Women); “Strengthening institutional capacity for disaster risk management in Vietnam, including climate change related risks (SCDM Phase II; UNDP); Training courses and workshops o­n enhancing women’s participation in politics, and consultative workshops o­n gender mainstreaming in daft laws in the framework of the Women Leadership Project jointly implemented by UNDP Vietnam and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Child-friendly Social Protection System (UNICEF) ect.

Besides, a number of activities and events have been organized by the VWU in close coordination and cooperation with the UN such as the field visit by the Informal Ambassadors and Heads of Agencies Gender Policy Coordination Group to learn about efforts to address human trafficking in Ha Giang province; International Forum o­n Women, Peace and Development; Consultative Workshop o­n the Implementation of SDG 5 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ect.

VWU President said that the support of the UN and Ms. Pratibha Mehta have contributed to helping the VWU participate proactively, effectively and sustainably in diverse activities, especially in law and policy formulation, social oversight and consultation.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha congratulated Ms. Pratibha Mehta o­n her new assignment and expected that she would continue her support for the VWU’s activities using her own rich experiencies in gender issues.

The UNRC expressed her sincere thanks to the VWU for its recognition of her efforts and contribution made during her term of office. Ms. Pratibha Mehta affirmed that in the next 5 years, gender would continue being placed at the core of the UN’s agenda. Efforts will be made to fully mainstream gender in all cooperation activities and to enhance monitoring the support for gender equality in Vietnam. She pointed that gender equality is always a difficult and challenging task, spoke highly of the VWU doing excellent work over the past years, and affirmed the UN would continue supporting the VWU and other organizations working o­n gender issues towards a common goal of substantive gender equality in all areas.