Vietnam Women's Union

Attending the workshop were the VWU Vice - President Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, Nghe An Provincial WU President Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa, representatives from the Provincial Department of Health, the Provincial Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, the Nghe An Center for Disease Control, and other relevant units.

The four policy packages are part of Project 8 “To realize gender equality and address urgent issues faced by women and children”, which implement in 11 districts, 76 communes, and 588 villages in the mountainous regions of Nghe An.

Over the past three years, the implementation of the packages has achieved remarkable results. Efforts have focused on eliminating gender prejudices and stereotypes; establishing and replicating economic empowerment models for women; ensuring women and children’s participation in socio-economic development, supervision and giving social counter-arguments; enhancing the capacity of ethnic minority female cadres; monitoring and evaluating gender equality efforts.

Overview of the meeting

Additionally, the VWU at all levels have conducted numerous communication events on maternal and child healthcare in mountainous areas. Of which, the district and commune level events attracted the participation of 12,750 and 18,750 members and women respectively. Also, the model of "Club to provide knowledge and skills for women on safe motherhood and child healthcare at home" was launched and operated.

At the workshop, participants named difficulties and challenges in implementing these 4 policies, including communication issues, unclear financial regulations and other concerns were also raised. From these difficulties, the VWU and the Nghe An WU have agreed on solutions to enhance cooperation with relevant sectors, diversify communication methods, and raise awareness about safe motherhood and child healthcare. They also emphasized the importance of comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation in the coming time.