Vietnam is determined to tackle domestic violence by prioritising the amendment of laws and policies on domestic violence and raising public awareness to change people’s behaviour, according to a workshop in Hanoi on March 24.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held the event in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The Government of Australia funded it under the project “Eliminating violence against women and children in 2021-2025.”
It discussed the new National Programme on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control until 2025, approved by the Prime Minister in January 2022, and the Prime Minister’s decisions on family work.
The discussions focused on critical solutions, including revising laws and policies on domestic violence, strengthening the leadership and coordination between ministries, sectors, and localities in achieving targets in the programme, and building support systems for domestic violence survivors.
The key objectives of the programme include over 70 per cent of people at risk of domestic violence to be equipped with skills in domestic violence response; 95 per cent of detected domestic violence survivors to receive protection, legal assistance and healthcare; 95 per cent of communes, wards, and towns to run and maintain the domestic violence prevention and control Model; and 90 per cent of people directly engaged in domestic violence prevention to be provided with training.
In his opening remarks, Charge d’Affaire of the Australian Embassy in Vietnam Mark Tattersall said: “No society is immune from domestic and family violence, and no country can afford to be passive. Not Australia, not Vietnam.”
Commending Vietnam for the goal it has set itself in the national programme, he said that Australia was committed to staying the course with the Vietnamese Government to reach its goals.
Meanwhile, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam Naomi Kitahara welcomed the Domestic Violence Prevention and Control Law, which will be endorsed in October 2022.
Kitahara said: “I am very proud of Vietnam reaching this level of engagement in trying to eliminate domestic violence in the country, and in the next five years, UNFPA is fully committed to continuing supporting the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in this national programme to ensure that all women and children in Vietnam, including those most vulnerable, live a life free of violence.”
She stressed that ending violence against women and girls should be a priority for everyone to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, leaving no one behind.
“We must stop violence against women and children now, and I trust the cooperation between the Government of Vietnam, the Government of Australia, UNFPA, and other international and national partners will realise that goal,” Kitahara added.
The workshop also looked at the Vietnam Family Strategy by 2030 and the Programme on Family Ethics and Lifestyle Education by 2030.
Vietnam has fully recognised that sustainable family development constitutes one of the critical factors to ensure the country’s success in industrialisation and modernisation.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have worked closely with relevant ministries, agencies and local authorities to review the 2010-2020 Family Strategy and develop the National Family Development Strategy by 2030 and the Programme on Family Ethics and Lifestyle Education by 2030.
The Family Development Strategy aims to create prosperous, progressive and happy families, creating a more healthy society and respecting the nation’s traditions.
VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
