VZCZCXRO1306
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #1380/01 2160920
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 040920Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5996
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3463
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001380 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PHUM PREL PGOV SOCI VM
 
SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN 
FACES CHALLENGES 
 
REF: HANOI 00006 
 
HANOI 00001380  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The National Committee for the Advancement of Women in 
Vietnam (NCFAW) is taking on domestic violence issues, gender 
equality, and implementation of a national strategy on the 
advancement of women for Vietnam by the end of 2010.  A key part of 
that strategy is to place more Vietnamese women into 
ministerial-level positions and in the National Assembly (NA), where 
women currently remain at just over 25 percent of all delegates. 
Implementing the strategy will be a challenge, as the relevant 
legislation on domestic violence has remained under consideration 
for several years and traditional attitudes of tolerance for 
domestic violence are only slowly changing.  End Summary. 
 
WHAT IS THE NCFAW? 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Embassy PolOff met with Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu, Deputy 
Director of the GVN's National Committee for the Advancement of 
Women in Vietnam (NCFAW) on July 24, 2007.  Thu said she was eager 
to meet with embassy officials and discuss the workings of the 
NCFAW; she requested that embassy officials send more visitors in 
order to help increase the visibility of the NCFAW.  The NCAFW is 
independent of its larger and better-known cousin: the Vietnam 
Women's Union, but Thu said the NCAFW is just as engaged on a 
variety of women's issues.  The NCFAW was established on June 11, 
2001 by an act of the prime minister to promote the "government's 
interest in the advancement of women."  The NCFAW is comprised of 18 
members, all at the vice-minister level (including officials of 
organizations not in the formal government cabinet, but holding 
equivalent rank).  President of the Women's Union serves as the 
NCFAW Chairwomen and NCFAW vice-chairs are selected from the 
ministries of Education and Training and of Foreign Affairs. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Committee advises the Prime Minister in developing and 
monitoring the implementation of a national strategy and plan of 
action for the advancement of women's rights in the areas of labor, 
education, health care, social, political and economic affairs. 
NCFAW is the focal point for international cooperation on gender 
equality, and coordinates GVN policy related to compliance and 
implementation of the UN Convention of the Elimination of All Forms 
of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). 
 
NEW LAW ON GENDER EQUALITY 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Regarding the status of the country's first ever Law on 
Gender Equality, which was passed in November 2006 (Reftel), Thu 
said the National Commission for Population, Family and Children is 
the institution responsible for drafting the final three decrees on 
implementation and dissemination.  Once complete, the final draft 
will be presented to several ministries for final approval.  Thu was 
optimistic this would happen before the end of the year.  Recently, 
there has been concern from donors that the law on gender equality 
may not be compatible with CEDAW, specifically the government's 
maintenance of a lower retirement age for women than for men. (Note: 
The current retirement age for men is 60 years and 55 years for 
women.  End note.)  Thu does not believe this will prove to be as 
contentious as some might think because the government will likely 
categorize retirement age by sector and "keep the lower retirement 
age only for those women working as factory workers and other labor 
intensive jobs."  She added that the six chapters and 44 articles of 
the new gender equality law are in line with the spirit of CEDAW and 
the Millennium Development Goals on gender equality. 
 
2010 STRATEGY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Thu highlighted NCFAW's 2010 national strategy and 
anti-domestic violence campaign.  She believes it was an easy 
decision for the GVN to support the strategy since "Vietnamese women 
account for 50.8 percent of the population and 50.6 percent of the 
labor force."  Specific objectives of the strategy, which started in 
2006, include reducing the unemployment rate of women in urban areas 
to below five percent by 2010; increasing the proportion of women 
post-graduate degree holders to over 35 percent by 2010.  In the 
area of health care, the strategy states that by 2010, 95 percent of 
women in Vietnam will have access to health care services. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The goals for 2010 also call for the proportion of women 
members in the National Assembly to rise to at least 33 percent by 
the next session of the legislature (Note: Women in the current 
legislature, just elected in May, hold slightly more than 25 percent 
 
HANOI 00001380  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
of the seats.  End note.), and for 50 percent of political agencies 
at the central and local level to have women leaders by the end of 
¶2010.  The Ministries of Health, Education and Training, Agriculture 
and Rural Development, Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs, and 
Foreign Affairs all play a part in funding and implementing the 
strategy. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In discussing domestic violence, Thu once again displayed 
her passion for promoting women's issues.  She explained that 
although a survey was conducted in 2001 of over 2,000 women, it is 
not comprehensive enough and expressed her wish to have a 
nation-wide survey done soon.  The 2001 survey, which was conducted 
by the Commission on Social Affairs of the National Assembly in 
eight provinces throughout Vietnam, found that 25 percent of women 
suffer mental abuse and 30 percent have been sexually assaulted by 
their husbands.  Thu added that, due to the severity of domestic 
violence in Vietnam, the government has taken steps to draft laws 
aimed at protecting victims and sentencing violators. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The draft Domestic Violence Prevention and Control bill is 
expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for final approval 
by the end of the year.  According to Thu, "there is a stigma 
attached to women who report cases of domestic violence but people 
in general are now much more willing to admit it exists and do more 
to prevent it."  NCFAW sponsors workshops aimed at educating both 
women and men about domestic violence and also continues to 
highlight this issue through public awareness campaigns.  The 
project gets much of its support from a Ford Foundation grant. 
While rural areas lack the financial support to provide crisis 
centers where women can seek shelter away from abusive spouses, 
villagers have established "intervention groups," allowing women to 
live with another family while men of the village confront the 
abuser.  Thu believes that creating laws aimed at protecting victims 
is important but the key is "changing a person's mindset and 
educating individuals on why domestic violence is bad." 
 
¶9. (SBU) Thu ended the meeting by reiterating earlier comments that 
she would like to expand her dialogue with embassy officials and 
looks forward to meeting visitors who specialize in women's issues 
and developing a long-term dialogue. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment: It is clear the NCFAW has its work cut out for 
it.  The National Assembly fell well short of its stated goal for 
its May 2007 election and the 2007-2012 legislative term of 
achieving a level of 30 percent female delegates.  In the end, the 
results came out at a just over 25 percent, even lower than the 
percentage in the previous term.  The new Law on Gender Equality, 
which just took effect on July 1, 2007, will require that officials 
and others undergo extensive training - which will require 
significant new funding - to be implemented effectively at local 
levels in Vietnam.  The Bill on Domestic Violence has been in draft 
form, and under debate, for several years.  The concept that a 
husband has the right to "teach" his wife and children by using 
violence is still very deeply ingrained in some segments of the 
Vietnamese population and has not to date been strongly challenged 
in the court of public opinion.  Nevertheless, there has been a 
political shift in thinking and an increased recognition that 
violence against women is a public health priority with legal, 
social, cultural and economic dimensions. 
 
¶11. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Ho Chi Minh City. 
 
MARINE