On Tuesday, Da Nang People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh warmly received the Chief Representative of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Viet Nam, Ms Shoko Ishikawa, who came to bid farewell at the end of her tenure in the country.

Vice Chairman Minh (left) and Ms Ishikawa

Vice Chairman Minh highly praised UN Women for the enthusiastic support given to Da Nang over recent years to implement projects and programmes aimed at combating domestic violence against women and girls in the city.  Most notable was a UN Women-funded project to encourage the whole community to protect women and girls from violence.  This project was deployed in the Hoa Phong and Hoa Khuong wards of Hoa Vang District, and in Hai Chau District’s Hoa Cuong Bac Ward, over the 2013 – 2015 period.  It gave special heed to encouraging younger and older men to transform harmful masculinities, and engage them in becoming male advocates in their communities for violence prevention.

The host asked UN Women to continue giving their technical and financial support to Da Nang in a bid to help it effectively implement gender equality promotion activities in future years.  He also hoped that Ms Ishikawa would help the city to establish closer links with UN Women, and other international organisations, in order to ensure gender equality and fight against domestic violence against women and girls.

In reply, Ms Ishikawa sincerely thanked the city authorities for facilitating her agency to conduct research activities into gender equality and the special needs of local women and girls, thereby effectively deploying meaningful projects in these aspects.  She suggested that, in the years ahead, the city and UN Women should further their bilateral cooperation by expanding the above project into other local wards and communes. 

She also vowed that UN Women would be willing to assist Da Nang to make it a safer city for women and girls through experience exchanges, database research activities, and other related tasks.  Hopefully, thanks to this practical model, the city will set a bright example in the promotion of gender equality for other Vietnamese localities to follow.

Fully concurring with Ms Ishikawa’s opinions about the model, Vice Chairman Minh asked the municipal Women’ s Union and other relevant agencies to jointly develop detailed plans to realise this ambition.