Artist Bui Tien Tuan’s paintings of Vietnamese women are nothing like the traditionally demure images often seen in art galleries.

Women cannot achieve gender equality and sexual and reproductive health without the cooperation and participation of men. It is men who usually decide on the number and variety of sexual relationships, timing and frequency of sexual activity and use of contraceptives, sometimes through coercion or violence. The 'feminization' of the AIDS pandemic is a sad reminder that in many places women do not have the power to protect their own health.

Around 100 children who suffered from hare lips and cleft palates in the north area of Vietnam will be given free surgeries at the Vietnam – Cuba Hospital from July 13 to 17.

Being aware of the significance and the importance of family, over the past years, WUs of all levels carried out different activities to support women in building “plentiful, equal, progressive, happy families”, which is considered as a key and permanent task.

In the afternoon of June 12, the first Vietnam ‘Ao dai’ Association Congress took place with the participation of more than 230 women representatives of Thua Thien Hue province and Ho Chi Minh City.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong visited and presented gifts to children with HIV/AIDS at the Labour Education Centre Number 2 in Ba Vi district, Hanoi, on May 29.

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) continued to fall below the replacement level and reached 2.08 children per woman, said the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Vietnam 2008 Population Booklet published recently.

A workshop held in Hanoi on May 27, on ways of working with the UN in the future to advance gender equality for the 2009-11 period.

A Vietnamese representative to the United Nations Security Council has called on the United Nations and the international community to do more for children caught in armed conflicts.

Childcare advice is being given to poor parents in remote areas in 13 provinces under a project launched by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Viet Nam Women’s Union.