The meeting wasconcurrent with the 110th anniversary of International Women’s Day, the 25thanniversary of the BeijingDeclaration and Platform for Action on gender equality, andthe 10th anniversary of UN Women - the United Nations entity dedicated togender equality and the empowerment of women.
Speaking atthe event, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh affirmedthat promotion of gender equality and women empowerment is the top priority inVietnam’s development policy and one of the focuses of the country’s externalaffairs, which has been and will be reflected via Vietnam’s agendas andinitiatives regarding women and girls during ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020 andits 2020-2021 tenure as a non-permanent member of the United Nations SecurityCouncil (UNSC).
He laudedthe AWCH for initiating and holding activities to strengthen connectivity inthe ASEAN Community and raise mutual understanding and friendship among people ofASEAN member states, and between ASEAN and international friends.
UnitedNations Resident Coordinator and Co-Chair of the Informal Group of Ambassadors on Gender Equality Kamal Malhotra, for his part, lauded the ForeignMinistry’s active role in promoting gender equality and internationalcooperation in the field.
He said theUN and international community will continue stepping up initiatives by Vietnamin its role as a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the 2020-2021 tenure,Chair of ASEAN 2020 and Chair of the 41st General Assembly of ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA).
Malhotraadded that he is impressed by important achievements made by Vietnamese femalediplomats over periods, especially during renovation and global integrationperiod.
On theoccasion, Vietnam’s Then culture and Quan ho (love duet) folk songs wereintroduced to international friends.
A photoexhibition on Vietnam’s cultural heritages and traditional customs of countriesworldwide was also launched./.