Vietnam sees great advances in gender equality

This is clearly reflected in the fact that 92 percent of Vietnamese girls attend primary schools and 86.9 percent of Vietnamese women are literate compared to 93.9 percent of men, said a UN representative at a meeting in Hanoi.

Vietnam has also pledged to improve mother and children's health through implementing the National Population Strategy for the 2001-2010 period, a nation plan o­n reproductive healthcare and a policy to provide free medical services for under-six children.

The meeting to mark the World Population Day was held by Hanoi People's Committee, the Committee for Population, Family Planning and Children, and the United Nations Fund for Population in Vietnam.