The conference was attended by Ms. NGUYEN Thi Minh Huong – Vice President of Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU), President of the Research Council of the Central VWU, Assoc.Prof. Dr. TRAN Quang Tien – President of Vietnam Women’s Academy (VWA), Assoc.Prof. Dr. DUONG Kim Anh – Vice President of VWA, Ms. NGUYEN Thi Thanh Hoa, President of the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, former President of VWU, Ms. NGUYEN Thi Tuyet – Former Vice President of VWU and representatives of the Central VWU, along with experts, researchers, delegates from ministries, branches, universities, research institutes and press agencies.

In her opening speech at the workshop, Ms. NGUYEN Thi Minh Huong, Vice President of VWU, affirmed the role of the VWU in promoting gender equality and protecting women’s rights, especially in the context of globalization and digital transformation. At the same time, Ms. NGUYEN Thi Minh Huong emphasized the importance of researching and discussing women’s work in the new term. The workshop will be a valuable opportunity for policy makers, scientists, managers, practitioners and delegates interested in women’s work and gender equality to share, exchange information and publish research results. The workshop proceedings will become a valuable source of documents, contributing to supplementing theoretical and practical bases for building the content of documents of the next term Women’s Congress.

Assoc.Prof. Dr. TRAN Quang Tien – President of VWA in his opening speech said: VWA in coordination with the Research Council of the Central VWU organized a scientific workshop with the theme: “Women’s work and activities of VWU for the term 2022 – 2027: Opportunities and challenges” to create a forum for experts and leaders to exchange and share the latest research and update the challenges and opportunities that women’s work is currently facing. Assoc.Prof. Dr. TRAN Quang Tien hopes that the workshop will achieve the set goals including: (1) Systematizing theoretical and theoretical issues on women’s work, empowering women; (2) Summarizing the practice of women’s work; (3) Orientating for innovation in the content and methods of women’s work of VWU in the new context to promote women’s work, successfully implement the Resolution of the 13th National Women’s Congress. Comrade TRAN Quang Tien also affirmed the importance of periodically organizing scientific seminars on women’s work for the purpose of updating, fully developing theoretical foundations and summarizing practical experience on women’s work in the new context. 

At session 1, delegates focused on discussing theoretical and practical issues related to women in the current context.

The workshop opened with a presentation by Assoc.Prof. Dr. NGUYEN Duc Chien – Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Sociology Journal – Vice Rector of the Institute of Sociology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, who highlighted the situation of Vietnamese women and especially issues of gender equality. Assoc.Prof. Dr. NGUYEN Duc Chien emphasized that although women have achieved many significant achievements in many fields, they are still facing major barriers and challenges, especially in participating in leadership positions.

Continuing the workshop program, PhD(c). TRUONG Tran Hoang Phuc and Assoc.Prof. Dr. TRAN Xuan Binh presented on gender theory in the transition period to socialism and the issues facing the cause of gender equality in Vietnam. These studies helped delegates have a more comprehensive view of the development of women’s work in the current complex socio-political context.

The presentation by Assoc.Prof. Dr. NGUYEN Thi Thu Phuong on opportunities and challenges for women in the digital transformation era also created a highlight at the conference. Assoc.Prof. Dr. NGUYEN Thi Thu Phuong deeply analyzed the opportunities that digital technology brings to women, from increasing access to information to expanding employment opportunities and career development. However, Assoc.Prof. Dr. NGUYEN Thi Thu Phuong also pointed out that without careful preparation, women are easily left behind in this digital transformation process.

The conferencecontinued with the second discussion session, focusing on evaluating the implementation of functions and tasks of VWU in the 2022-2027 term.

In their presentation, PhD(c). NGUYEN Hoang Anh and Dr. PHUNG Thi Quynh Trang proposed solutions to innovate the content and methods of propaganda and mobilization of women of VWU. The research team emphasized the issue of improving the approach to information to attract the attention and support of a large number of women nationwide in the context of increasingly developing digital media.

Next, Dr. DAM Thi Van Thoa – Head of the Law and Policy Department, Vietnam Women’s Union presented on social criticism activities and proposed solutions for improvement. Dr. DAM Thi Van Thoa raised issues that need attention such as improving the ability to grasp public opinion, enhancing the criticism capacity of VWU and ensuring that policies and laws related to women are always built on scientific analysis and evaluation.

Ms. DO Thi Thanh Ha – Vice President of the Research Council of the Central Party Agencies also presented a paper with the topic of Current context and recommendations for the work of grasping public opinion in the new situation for VWU. The paper also clearly stated the opportunities and challenges for the Vietnam Women’s Union, especially solutions to effectively implement methods of grasping public opinion.

The final presentation of the workshop was by the representative of the Quang Binh Provincial Women’s Union, Ms. NGUYEN Thi Nhu Quynh, who shared her experiences in improving the quality of the Union’s activities in the locality. The challenges raised by Ms. NGUYEN Thi Nhu Quynh, from the lack of resources to difficulties in organization, opened up a lively discussion among the delegates to find feasible solutions for the Union’s work in the next phase.

During the discussion session, the delegates continued to share many ideas, especially emphasizing the issues raised for the VWU’s activities in the current new context. The workshop also proposed many valuable recommendations and solutions in advising on policies and solutions to promote the successful completion of the Resolution of the 13th Women’s Congress.

At the end of the workshop, Ms. NGUYEN Thi Minh Huong – Vice President of VWU summarized the important contents that were discussed and emphasized the importance of capacity building for the Union’s staff, especially in the context of international integration and digital transformation. She also called on delegates to continue to accompany VWU in implementing the set strategic goals, in order to ensure the rights and development opportunities for Vietnamese women in the coming term, to focus on improving the quality of training and fostering female staff, which creates conditions for women to access education programs and develop skills suitable for the context of digital transformation, and to promote the application of information technology in communication, propaganda and organization of activities in order to enhance the ability to connect and mobilize the participation of women across the country. The use of digital platforms will help the Union reach more audiences, thereby improving the effectiveness of movements and activities, strengthen international cooperation, learn from the experiences of countries and international organizations in implementing women’s work. Building sustainable partnerships not only helps the Union gain more resources and knowledge, but also creates opportunities for Vietnamese women to reach out to the world, contributing to global development.

The conference concluded successfully with many positive signals after the process of researching, discussing and proposing solutions for women’s work in the 2022-2027 term. This is a necessary stepping stone for VWU to continue to promote its role as a representative, caring for, and protecting the legitimate and legal rights and interests of women, bringing the Vietnamese women’s movement to new heights, promoting equality and social progress, contributing to the sustainable development of the country in the next period.

VWA Communication Department