Further empowering women will help improve Viet Nam’s garment and footwear sectors after the COVID-19 crisis, evidence from the ILO’s flagship programme has shown. [Improved gender equality vital to recovery of garment, footwear industries – Quang Ninh]
'Better Work Viet Nam' worked with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and was supported by the Australian Government and other donors, to organise a national conference on women’s empowerment during the COVID-19 recovery in Ha Noi on Wednesday, towards a more resilient garment and footwear sectors.
Better Work Viet Nam is a unique partnership between the ILO and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, with the ultimate goal of improving working conditions and boosting the competitiveness of these key export industries of Viet Nam.
Facing the COVID-19 crisis, the programme gave gender a greater priority in recognition of the disproportional impacts of the crisis on women’s health, care duties and discrimination.
According to an ILO study released in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic did not only exacerbate existing gender inequalities – such as the double burden for women of working almost the same hours as men while spending more than twice as much time on housework – but also created new ones, which included a gender gap in the unemployment rate.
Better Work Viet Nam closely worked with its member factories to reduce risks of gender discrimination and develop guidelines, with emphasis on gender dimensions to support factories in handling suspensions, retrenchment and occupational safety and health during the pandemic.
In collaboration with IFC, during the first waves of COVID-19 in 2020, Better Work Viet Nam launched the GEAR (Gender Equality and Returns) project to help factories improve line-level productivity by equipping female operators with the skills needed to effectively perform as line leader. – Vietnam News
