Sri Lanka Embassy in Ha Noi celebrates Vietnamese Women’s Day for 3rd consecutive year

Viet Nam celebrates Women’s Day on 20 October, the day that the Viet Nam Women’s Union was established in 1930. The Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Viet Nam for the third consecutive year, organised an Informal Networking Reception to celebrate Viet Nam Women’s Day 2018 at the official residence. This year, the event was co-hosted by Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to Viet Nam Maria Jesus Figa Lopez-Palop, who is also the Co-Chair of Informal Ambassadors and Heads of Agencies of the Gender Policy Coordination Group.  

Among those present were Nguyen Thuy Anh, Chairwoman of Committee of Social Affairs of the National Assembly Viet Nam and Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga, the spouse of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs who were guests of honour. Further, female Ambassadors from Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Mexico, Italy as well as UNDP Country Director and Head of the UN Women were present.

Welcoming the guests, mostly Vietnamese who have excelled in numerous fields, ranging from politics to economics to diplomacy academic and research to science and technology to media and performing arts to entrepreneurs, Ambassador Hasanthi Urugodawatte Dissanayake congratulated the achievements of Vietnamese women and their contribution to socio-economic development of Viet Nam. She further noted that although Vietnamese women do get two occasions to be appreciated in society, with the 8 March International Women’s Day, she hopes for the days women can celebrate Women’s Day every day, when there is no discrimination among genders. 

She admired how hard working Vietnamese women are and further hoped that instead of admiring the ‘double burden for the women’ by the Vietnamese society, that the society would be emancipated to embrace a culture that promotes ‘shared responsibilities at home’ with both husband and wife not just only engaging in a livelihood activity, but also sharing responsibilities at home connected to taking care of children and elderly as well as household chores. 

Making her remarks, Ambassador Maria Jesus Figa Lospez-Palop admired the creativity and innovation among Vietnamese women. She emphasised that Vietnamese women have made important contributions to the country’s development and that they need to be proud of their achievements. She also briefed on the advocacy work done by the Gender Policy Coordination Group, which she co-chairs with UN Resident Coordinator, involves both male and female Ambassadors as well and international organisations. She highlighted that during past year, the Group worked on bridging the gap in gender equality in the Viet Nam’s Labour Code and now working on gender equality issues in the agricultural sector. 

Both Ambassadors appreciated the continuous support, encouragement and understanding the female diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government agencies as well as all other females from different backgrounds, not only to perform their duties in promoting bilateral relations with in Viet Nam, but also in understanding and enjoying the Vietnamese culture. 

Elisa Fernandez, Head of the UN Women in Viet Nam, also expressed her appreciation for Viet Nam’s achievements in promoting gender equality, which is the 5th goal out of 17 Sustainable Development goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030 that Viet Nam Government actively implements. She encouraged all those who were present, to work towards reducing the double burden on women and to fight against violence against women. 

Sharing her ideas, Ambassador Madam Nguyen Nguyet Nga, the spouse of the Foreign Minister of Viet Nam expressed her pride on women present on the occasion, appreciated the support of UN Women and international agencies, especially the activities of Informal Ambassadors and Heads of Agencies of the Gender Policy Coordination Group towards socio-economic development in Viet Nam in general and prompting of gender equality in specific contribution positively to emancipation of Vietnamese women. She highlighted the importance of women’s contribution to socio-economic landscape through multi-faceted sectors, including foreign affairs.  

She further appreciated Ambassadors of Sri Lanka and Spain for recognising the Viet Nam Women’s Day and organising such a celebration. Ambassador Nga also was also thankful to Ambassador of Sri Lanka for coming up with the novel and meaningful idea of celebrating the Viet Nam’s Women’s Day for three consecutive years. She further added that this year’s reception also had many senior female diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attending and hoped that it would contribute for multi-faceted cooperation between countries and international organisations with Viet Nam.

The guests were treated to sumptuous Sri Lankan, Spanish and Vietnamese delicacies.