Vietnam ranks 87/144 countries on Gender Development Index

Although achieving good progress o­n gender equality, Vietnam ranked 84 among 144 countries o­n the United Nations Population Fund Gender Development Index.

According to UNICEF, it is estimated that there are 600 million illiterate women in comparison with 320 million men and of the 121 million school dropouts, 65 million are female.

At a meeting o­n July 11^th, World Population Day, the National Committee for Population, Family and Children showed that: Vietnam has 1.4 million pregnant women yearly which has decreased by half since the Family Planning Program has been implemented.However, the rate of abortion, especially among teens remainshigh.

At the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem highlighted population control as a key component of the National Development Strategy for the socio-economic development of Vietnam and a basic factor in the implementation of gender equality and improvement of living standards for individuals. He confirmed that Vietnam actively implemented the International Conventions o­n the Rights of Children (CRC) and the Convention o­n Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Deputy Prime Minister stated that the implementation of the policy for 1-2 children in a family would create favorable conditions for women to reduce their family burdens in order to be more involved in education and social activities.

The National Committee for Population, Family and Children Chairwoman Le Thi Thu told the ceremony that from now to year 2010, the Population and Family Planning workers in Vietnam should develop an Action Plan to effectively implement the population and family planning policies and regulations; Integrate gender equality with socio-economic development; Improve the work of education, counseling and information....