WORKSHOP ON “GENDER EQUALITY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN – MINISTRY OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT”

On 6 March, the workshop entitled “Gender equality for the advancement of women – Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment” was hosted in Ninh Binh province by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). The workshop was designed to: (i) provide guidelines on the implementation of activities to promote gender equality in MONRE and (ii) improve the skills of mainstreaming gender equality in the field of natural resources and environment. It bought together the Committee for the Advancement of Women, MONRE; Female Leader from departments and agencies under MONRE; Chairpersons of the Committee for the Advancement of Women and the Committee of Women’s Affairs of the departments and agencies under MONRE; Committee of Women’s Affairs, Trade Union of MONRE; gender focal point in each department and agency under MONRE and International Partners (UN Women).

Chairing the workshop, Vice Minister Tran Quy Kien, the chairperson of the Committee for the Advancement of Women of MONRE, emphasized the needs to empower and promote women in MONRE into managerial and leadership positions (through training and capacity building). He also highlighted the issue of climate change and the need to integrate climate change perspective into all the fields of activities of MONRE, underscoring the role of women as both vulnerable group and agents of change.

Vice Minister Tran Quy Kien, the chairperson of the Committee for the Advancement of Women of MONRE, delivered his speech during the event (©GIZ/Phuong Lan)

The event consisted of 5 key parts: (i) gender equality: terms and concepts; (ii) gender equality in the mist of climate change; (iii) role of gender equality in the national climate change strategy; (iv) role of gender equality in the international climate change strategy; (v) opportunities and challenges of gender mainstreaming in the development and implementation of climate change policy in Viet Nam.

The workshop was concluded with a panel discussion that engaged participants and speakers in the discussion over the topics that ranged from the difficulty of the Committee for the Advancement of Women of MONRE in the implementation of gender equality policy to its contribution to addressing the climate change.