Col. Hien emphasized that as a peace-loving nation that respects women, Vietnam is fully aware that implementing the women, peace, and security agenda not only ensures opportunities and rights for women and girls, but also serves as an effective solution for building a strong, modern, and humanistic national defense.
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Senior Colonel Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (center) and the Vietnamese delegation at the event |
In August 2024, Vietnam officially announced its first national action plan on women, peace, and security for the 2024-2030 period, marking a historical milestone in Vietnam’s commitment to gender equality and women empowerment in the field of peace and security.
Regarding the realization of this action plan within the Ministry of National Defense, the Vietnamese senior officer stated that in January 2018, Vietnam sent its first female officer as an operation staff officer to U.N. Mission in South Sudan.
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Colonel Karen Such (center) and the Australian delegation at the exchange |
To date, female military personnel account for about 16% of the total number of Vietnamese personnel participating in U.N. peacekeeping forces. Among them, 19% are female officers participating individually in peacekeeping operations. Vietnamese female military personnel have taken on various roles, including military observers, operation staff officers, training officers, doctors, and nurses, all of whom have been praised by the U.N. for successful and excellent fulfilment of tasks during their tenure.
Attentively, many female military personnel have participated in nearly 70 training courses and exercises on search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response, both at home and abroad. Some have directly engaged in coordinating relief and search and rescue operations in international situations, such as earthquake recovery efforts in Turkey in 2023 and in Myanmar in 2025.
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An overview of the exchange |
In her speech at the event, Colonel Karen Such congratulated Vietnam on its achievements in the areas of women, peace, and security, particularly the improvement in gender equality indices. She reaffirmed Australia's commitment to supporting Vietnam in the field.
During the exchange, the two sides shared challenges, achievements, and experience of each country in implementing the action plan. From this exchange, both sides learned from each other's best practices and approaches, as well as set directions for future cooperation between the two ministries to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the implementation of the women, peace, and security agenda.
Translated by Mai Huong