Spain will assist Vietnam in promoting gender equality towards sustainable employment through a 1.8 million EUR project to be implemented from 2012 through 2015.

The help will focus on improving policies and regulations in the field, so that Vietnam can fulfill both its commitments on sustainable employment to the International Labour Organisation, and on gender equality as part of the overall plan of the ASEAN Social Community.

At the launching ceremony of the project on December 12 in Hanoi, Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam, Fernando Curcio, affirmed Spain will continue to help Vietnam implement regional and international agreements on gender equality, including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Beijing Platform for Action.

Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep pledged to deploy the project efficiently to help realise the socio-economic development strategy for the 2011–2015 period, as well as policies and programmes on jobs, social security and gender equality.

The project is a follow-up of the two Governments’ cooperation programme since 2006, especially the two projects, “Social Services for Labourers and Vulnerable Groups in Vietnam 2008 – 2009”, and “Promoting Sustainable Jobs for Labourers and Vulnerable Groups 2010 – 2011”.