Within the framework of the project “Strengthening the People’s Credit Fund System” (STEP) funded by the Department of Global Affairs Canada (GAC), jointly implemented by DID and Co-opBank, gender equality is one of the most important components which is of special interest to the sponsor and has been integrated into many project’s activities. During the training courses in 2019 and 2020, the concept of gender equality was introduced to Co-opBank’s branches and PCFs participating in the project to raise their awareness of this issue. Through these trainings, the participants learned about the difficulties women often had to face due to gender inequality.
Carrying on the training content in previous years and on the occasion of the Vietnamese Women’s Day on October 20; on October 19, 2021, Co-opBank co-operated with STEP to organize an online workshop on gender equality with Dr. Khuat Thu Hong – Director of the Institute for Social Development Studies (ISDS). Attending the workshop, there were a GAC representative , STEP field project director, representatives of Co-opBank’s Board of Directors, Committee for the Advancement of Women, the Women’s Committee, Trade Union and 12 Co-opBank’s branches and 24 PCFs participating in STEP project.
In Vietnam’s Law on Gender Equality, the goal of gender equality has been clearly stated as: “eliminating gender discrimination, creating equal opportunities for men and women in socio-economic and human resources development, moving towards substantive gender equality between men and women; establish and strengthen co-operative and supportive relations between men and women in all areas of social and family life”. According to Dr. Khuat Thu Hong, in recent years, the global ranking on gender equality has shown that there are still many areas for improvement in gender equality in Vietnam. For example, the proportion of female leaders is relatively low in some sectors such as economics, politics and education; women are spending almost twice as much time on housework as men; many women still suffer from domestic violence and the traditional mindset of respecting men more over women is still popular.
Gender inequality not only causes injustice to women, but also influences negatively and puts great pressures on men with traditional gender role standards such as men are the breadwinners of the family; men must be physically and emotionally strong and have a successful career.
According to a number of research reports, organizations with higher gender diversity are 1.4 times more likely to grow sustainably and be more profitable. In addition, reports also show that gender-diverse companies improve their reputation and brand name. Therefore, organizations should consider gender equality as a solution, not a problem to be solved.
”Organizations can take some measurements to promote gender equality include: promoting a culture of zero tolerance for gender discrimination and disrespect for men/women, abolishing masculine norms and culture including stepping away from the traditional masculine leadership model, removing unconscious gender bias in hiring and promotion…”, said Dr. Khuat Thu Hong.
At the end of the online workshop, participants shared their point of views and personal thoughts on gender equality as well as the situation of gender disparity in their organizations. The participants highly appreciated the content of the workshop and said that they would gradually change their point of views on gender equality, contributing to the elimination of gender inequalities in the society as well as the workplace. In the coming time, STEP is expected to organize more seminars to propagate more strongly about gender equality to the PCFs.
Ngo Thanh Loan (International Relations and Project Management)
