The hybrid event brought together representatives from the ASEAN Secretariat, UN Women Asia-Pacific, UNFPA, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), alongside in-person delegates from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Health, relevant government agencies, universities, research institutes, international organisations, and NGOs working in women’s, children’s, and disability rights.
In her opening speech, Ha Thi Minh Duc, Deputy Director of the MHA’s International Cooperation Department, commended ACWC’s achievements over 15 years in enhancing the well-being of women and children across ASEAN. These advances stem from implementing successive five-year work plans to promote gender equality, mainstream gender perspectives, bolster child protection systems, and address emerging rights challenges within the region.
She underlined Viet Nam’s active role in ASEAN efforts to promote gender equality and eradicate violence against women and girls. The country has embedded ASEAN action plan goals and Sustainable Development Goal targets into its national policies and laws.
She added that Viet Nam has boosted nationwide awareness campaigns, fostered behaviour changes on gender issues, and established support models such as one-stop centres, hotlines, and training programmes to enhance capacities of personnel in justice, healthcare, and law enforcement.
Expressing gratitude to UN Women, UNFPA, and Australia for their vital technical and financial support, she called for intensified cooperation within ASEAN and member states to bring the ASEAN Vision 2045 to fruition.
Viet Nam has made important strides — a strong legal and policy foundation and concrete programmes and activities at national and provincial levels.
For his part, UNFPA Representative in Viet Nam Matt Jackson hailed how Viet Nam has shown active leadership in ASEAN’s shared commitment to eliminate violence against women and girls, and to leave no one behind.
Viet Nam has made important strides — a strong legal and policy foundation and concrete programmes and activities at national and provincial levels, especially around national action months and the global 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence, he commended.
The workshop featured updates on implementing the ACWC 2021–2025 work plan and development of the 2026–2030 work plan, alongside a review of progress on the ASEAN Regional Action Plan to Eliminate Violence against Women (2016–2025).
Participants engaged in drafting Viet Nam’s final evaluation report and discussed the inclusion of disability issues in gender-based violence prevention policies, proposing priorities for the next regional action plan (2026–2035).
