National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong and the delegates

(VOVworld)- UNDP Administrator Helen Clark concluded her 4-day visit to Vietnam on Sunday. On Saturday, she attended a workshop with 20 ethnic minority women discussing ethnic minority women’s role in development issues. Attending the event, National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong said Vietnam was one of the early signatory of the UN Convention on eliminating discriminations against women. She said Vietnam has locally legalized stipulations of the Convention: " The rate of female leaders in government agencies has been maintained. 24.4% of National Assembly deputies are women, 39 of them are ethnic minority representatives. Many women are playing key roles in local administrations. Ethnic minority women receive equal treatment in nomination, self-nominations, election and access to credits. The number of ethnic minority businesswomen has increased. In education and health care, their roles have also been promoted”.

At the workshop, Ms Helen Clark talked about opportunities and challenges facing women in participating in social management, lessons learned in economic development, promoting national culture and language. She said the UNDP would accelerate the implementation of MDGs in ethnic minority and disadvantaged groups.