Vietnam's female peacekeepers (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The role of women in building peace was upheld bydelegates to the international conference on women, peace and security themed“Strengthening women’s role in building and sustaining peace: from commitmentsto results” which opened on December 7 evening.
The three-day conference is organised in the in-personformat in Hanoi and via video conference in over 70 nations.
Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung said that women playan important role in each country’s social life, in national building anddevelopment, as well as in conflict prevention and peace maintenance.
In 1960s, the role of women was upheld and became one of thetopics of the UN and international forums, with a focus on protecting therights of women and children during wars and conflicts.
In 2000, the UN Security Council for the first time approveda resolution on the role of women for peace and security, which heightens theirrole in conflict prevention and peace building, Trung stated.
He added that this is also the first time Vietnam has organisedan international conference within the framework of Vietnam’s activities at theUN, which draws the participation of more than 400 Vietnamese and foreigndelegates, including three UN Under-Secretary-Generals.
The conference is of great significance as it takes place onthe occasion of the 75th founding anniversary of the UN, 25 years ofthe approval of the Beijing Programme of Action on Gender Equality, and 20years of the approval of the UNSC’s Resolution on Women, Peace and Security.
According to him, Vietnam and its women have beenappreciated by the international community for their special role in nationbuilding and peacekeeping missions, particularly Vietnamese women’s engagementin the UN’s activities.
Vietnam has actively participated in negotiations betweencountries and discussed with others to form international documents related togender equality as well as programmes of actions.
When it was a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the firsttime in 2008-2009, it initiated a resolution on the role of women in thepost-war period which was approved by UNSC members, Trung said, adding thatthis was also the council’s first resolution in this field.
Ambassador Nguyen Nguyet Nga, Senior Advisor to the ASEAN2020 National Secretariat and Vietnam’s representative at the ASEAN Women forPeace Registry (AWPR), said that the role of women in international peace andsecurity protection is urgent and crucial more than ever.
Today’s women play an important role in policymaking and in UNpeacekeeping missions.
Besides measures to solve conflicts, countries should payattention to educating peace culture and building trust, and women have advantagein these issues, added Nga./.
VNA
