Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and therefore also half of its potential. But gender inequality persists everywhere and stagnates social progress.

On average, women in the labor market still earn 23 percent less than men globally and women spend about three times as many hours in unpaid domestic and care work as men.

Sexual violence and exploitation, the unequal division of unpaid care and domestic work, and discrimination in public office, all remain huge barriers. All these areas of inequality have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic: there has been a surge in reports of sexual violence, women have taken on more care work due to school closures, and 70% of health and social workers globally are women.

At the current rate, it will take an estimated 300 years to end child marriage, 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws, 140 years for women to be represented equally in positions of power and leadership in the workplace, and 47 years to achieve equal representation in national parliaments.

Political leadership, investments and comprehensive policy reforms are needed to dismantle systemic barriers to achieving Goal 5 Gender equality is a cross-cutting objective and must be a key focus of national policies, budgets and institutions.

International commitments to advance gender equality have brought about improvements in some areas: child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM) have declined in recent years, and women’s representation in the political arena is higher than ever before. But the promise of a world in which every woman and girl enjoys full gender equality, and where all legal, social and economic barriers to their empowerment have been removed, remains unfulfilled. In fact, that goal is probably even more distant than before, since women and girls are being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Worldwide, nearly half of married women lack decision-making power over their sexual and reproductive health and rights. 35 per cent of women between 15-49 years of age have experienced physical and/ or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.1 in 3 girls aged 15-19 have experienced some form of female genital mutilation/cutting in the 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East, where the harmful practice is most common with a high risk of prolonged bleeding, infection (including HIV), childbirth complications, infertility and death. This type of violence doesn’t just harm individual women and girls; it also undermines their overall quality of life and hinders their active involvement in society.

About Vietnam's efforts at the UN in promoting global gender equality, that gender equality and women's rights have always been the fields that Vietnam values and actively contributes to at the national, regional, and global levels.

Vietnam was among the first countries in the world to sign the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on July 29, 1980, and ratified it on November 27, 1981. It is also a member of the Group of Friends on Gender Parity, promoting women's holding of positions at the UN, especially leadership ones. Vietnam has been evaluated by the international community as one of the top ten countries implementing Goal 5 on promoting gender equality and women empowerment in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The country is in the top one-third in the world concerning the proportions of female parliamentarians and of women participating in the workforce. Notably, its human development index for men and women is nearly equal, with women earning 81.4% of estimated male income.

on April 9, The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)  elected Vietnam to the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) for the 2025-2027 term.

With this election, from January 2025 to the end of 2027, Vietnam will participate in coordinating the building and implementation of major orientations of the UN Women and ensuring that the agency’s strategies and activities are consistent with the UN's overall goals and policies on promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.

As a member of the Executive Board, Vietnam will also take part in the process of approving the agency's plans and programs as well as its administrative, financial, and budgetary decisions.

The consensus of all ECOSOC members to elect Vietnam to the UN Women Executive Board demonstrates the international community's recognition and appreciation for the country's policies and achievements in promoting gender equality and efforts to boost international cooperation in this field as well as the belief that Vietnam will make positive contributions to the management of the UN Women in the coming time.

Established in July 2010, the UN Women is the UN entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.