Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi Oct. 24 (VNA) -- Viet Nam now has up to 19 million women working permanently in all economic sectors. These women account for 48 percent of the country's workforce.

Every year, more than 1.2 million Vietnamese people are provided with jobs thanks to various national programmes on employment and hunger elimination and poverty reduction. Women make up 50 percent of the beneficiaries.

A number of rural women have developed farm economy, diversified occupations and implemented economic restructuring, thus contributing to the restoration and development of traditional crafts at their communities.

They have also been active in seeking outlets and improving designs with a view to creating high quality products for customers. Their efforts have helped better their living conditions on the one hand and boost the national industrialisation and modernisation on the other.

Hoang Thi Mai, a woman farmer of the H'Mong ethnic minority in Viet Nam's northern mountainous Lai Chau province, who is the first Asian woman to get a UN prize for her poverty reduction efforts, is among these women.

In Viet Nam's health care and education, women account for major proportions of the workforce. During the 1998-2000 period, 45 percent of the 1.65 million people who got training were women. At the general education level, the number of female students was almost equal to that of male students in 2000. The rate was 43.7 percent at the tertiary level, and 24.5 percent at the post-graduate level.

During the five-year period from 1997-2001, the contingent of women scientists has developed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The rate of female scientists holding the associate professor title rose by 1 percent; holding the professor title by 1.14 percent; and holding the Ph.D. degree, 1.6 percent.

Women also account for 6.3 percent of the leading officials working at research establishments across the country while they are in charge of 10 percent of the State-level scientific research projects. The number of women and women's groups who have won the VIFOTEC research prize from the Ministry of Science and Technology has constantly been on the rise.

However, the number of women who are under-employed or have unstable jobs has not been reduced considerably and the number of female illiterates aged between 15-35 is still double that of male ones, especially those in remote and isolated areas or regions inhabited by ethnic minority groups.

The idea of gender unequality has been found among many people, including public employees. The burden of house work has still prevented women, particularly those in rural areas, from improving their material and spiritual lives.

At the same time, besides the side-effects of a market economy, there remain social vices such as prostitution, trafficking in women, and rude behaviour towards women. These vices are often seen in poverty-stricken regions and among people with poor social knowledge.

In order to remedy these vices, the Party, administrative and mass organisations, including the women's union, at all levels have raised public awareness about the main causes and consequences of these vices in a bid to prevent women from falling victim to prostitution and woman trafficking.

A variety of conciliation groups have been set up to help numerous families solve contradictions and quarrels as well as prevent violence. Many poor women have received soft loans and helps to increase their capacity and social status and improve the quality of life. They have also been provided with knowledge and opportunities to seek jobs.

As a result, many women have been freed from poverty and harassment, and regained love in their families. Many prostitutes have been re-educated to integrate into the social community with stable jobs. Men have shown their greater responsibility towards their wives and helped them in house work.

In order to further improve the women's living conditions and social status, Viet Nam has been carrying out a national strategy for women's advancement up to 2010. This strategy aims to create every favourable condition for women to realise their fundamental rights and enhance their role in all areas of social life.

Through this strategy, Viet Nam plans to reduce the rate of unemployment among urban women to below five percent and increase the working time of rural women to 80 percent by 2010.

By 2005, 80 percent of poor households will have access to soft loans from the anti-poverty programme, 95 percent of women will be given medical care. By 2010, 30 percent of women will take part in the People's Councils at the municipal and provincial level.

Now in Viet Nam, a balance has been ensured between male and female newborns in terms of health and the number of male and female pupils at the primary schools is now kept almost equal.

Viet Nam is one of the countries, that have the highest rate of female parliament members in Asia, with 27.4 percent of the total lawmakers, one woman working as a vice president and dozens of women as ministerial-level officials.

Women account for 50.8 percent of Viet Nam's population.--