Top legislator calls for more presence and influence of female woman parliamentarians

The Meeting of Women Parliamentarians, Ha Noi, January 18, 2017 - Photo: VGP/Thuy Dung

The Vietnamese top legislator made the point on January 18 in Ha Noi at the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians which is a part of the 26th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-26).

Under the theme “Promoting gender equality for sustainable development and common prosperity,” Chairwoman Ngan, the APPF-26 President stressed that gender equality represents an important goal which Viet Nam and other countries are looking forward, and is regarded as one of criteria for the assessment of social development. 

Ms. Ngan said that in spite of positive outcomes in gender equality and women empowerment, a large number of women and girls in various areas in the world are being discriminated and subjected to violence. 

Converting official mechanism into periodic one

The APPF was founded in 1993. However, the Meeting of Women Parliamentarians of the APPF was held for the first time during APPF-24 in Canada in January 2016, following an initiative from the Indonesian delegation to the APPF-23.

Being the third edition this year, the APPF Meeting of Women Parliamentarians aims at promoting gender equality for sustainable development and shared prosperity.

Chairwoman Ngan said that as the host of APPF-26, Viet Nam selected the theme with a view to creating a forum for women parliamentarians to discuss  parliamentary roles to enforce international commitments and legalization domestic laws; and converting women parliamentarian meeting – an official mechanism – into a periodic one of APPF by amending APPF Rules of Procedure.

The top legislator was convinced that the meeting would make positive contribution to resolutions and a joint declaration of the forum. 

Lasting until January 21, the APPF-26 also features four plenary sessions on the topics of politics-security, economics-trade, regional cooperation in Asia-Pacific, and the future of APPF. 
Thirty-four bilateral meetings are scheduled to take place on the sidelines of the meeting. 

By January 16, 11 participating APPF members submitted 44 draft resolutions, including six from Viet Nam. By the end of its course, the meeting is expected to adopt resolutions and issue the Ha Noi Declaration./. 

By Kim Anh