Mexican Ambassador Sara Valdés Bolano, who is also the Co-Chairwoman of the Gender Coordination Group, delivers a speech at the event.
HÀ NỘI - More than 50 female ambassadors, representatives from foreign diplomatic missions and international organisations, and spouses of ambassadors in Việt Nam gathered to hail the spirit of International Women’s Day in Hà Nội on Friday.
Speaking at the event, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ASEAN Women Circle in Hà Nội (AWCH), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Quốc Dũng said promoting gender equality and empowering women is a consistent priority of Việt Nam, for inclusive and sustainable development. This is also an important pillar of Vietnamese diplomacy.
“In this past exceptional year, Việt Nam has been a strong advocate for gender equality and women’s empowerment across all multilateral forums. We have initiated for the first time in ASEAN a Special Session on Women’s Empowerment in the Digital Age. We also successfully hosted the conference on Women, Peace and Security within the framework of the UN and ASEAN.
“Việt Nam has also been proudly singled out internationally as an example of realising the dual goal of epidemic prevention and economic recovery. And women have been and continue to be placed at the heart of this process,” he said.
Mexican Ambassador Sara Valdés Bolano, who is also the Co-Chairwoman of the Gender Coordination Group, reaffirmed a commitment to help the country continue efforts towards gender equality.
Honorary Chairwoman of the AWCH Nguyễn Nguyệt Nga (second left) and guests learn about Vietnamese silk products at the event.
Attending the event, Nguyễn Nguyệt Nga, Honorary Chairwoman of the AWCH, said that, for her, the gathering is truly meaningful when sisters in the foreign service, bound together by the aspiration and commitments to women’s advancement, could have the chance to meet and build up sisterhood.
“This is also an occasion for us to reflect on our joint efforts in promoting women’s empowerment and gender inclusion in the last exceptional year,” she said.
“The AWCH have performed many useful initiatives and activities to promote ASEAN cohesion, as well as to foster the friendship between ASEAN and international friends and partners. We will continue to play a part in furthering ASEAN community spirit and the companionship between ASEAN and its partners.”
Female diplomats wearing Vietnamese áo dài seen the event. Photos courtesy of the organiser
At the event, participants also had the chance to learn about traditional Vietnamese silk products, their history and the production process through a presentation and fashion show by local brand De Silk. VNS
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