A communication campaign on the issue was launched in Hanoi on September 23 in response to the International Day of the Girl Child (October 11).
A range of activities will be held under the framework of the campaign during September and October across the nation by the General Office for Population Family Planning in co-operation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFA) in Vietnam.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said that over recent decades the percentage of women over men accounted for about 53-52% or 47-48% and has remained relatively stable. However, in the past 14 years, the SRB has increased from 106.2 boys per 100 girls in 2000 to 113.8 boys per 100 girls in 2013. The numbers significantly exceed the standard biological value of 105.
If the problem was not solved, there would be a surplus of 2.3 to 4.3 million males compared with females in Vietnam by 2050, Deputy Minister Tien stressed.
Evidences in Vietnam as well as around the globe show that gender imbalance at birth are mainly due to fetus sex selection governed by gender stereotypes, son preference and disregard of woman and girls’ values which have entrenched in cultural attitudes.
Tien also said that SRB imbalance would leave enormous consequences to Vietnam’s population structure while the lack of women and girls would increase pressure to force girls to marry at early ages and lead to an increase in demand for prostitution and the lack of a female labour force in some typical careers.
Strengthening information to improve the status and empowerment of women and girls to help them grasp their rights would be a key solution to the issue, the deputy minister emphasised, adding that the media should promote their critical role in raising public awareness about the causes and consequences of an imbalance in the SRB, thus changing behaviours to address the issue.
According to UNFPA Representative in Vietnam Arthur Erken, solutions to the problem should be addressed in the wider context of socio-economic development in accordance with the rights of individuals, women and children.
Once women and girls have access to healthcare, education, and job opportunities on an equal basis as men, they can thrive and do what men and boys are expected to do, or even better. However, as women could not solve the problem alone, men need to be encouraged to become an agent of change, the UN official stressed.
He also affirmed the need to condemn discrimination against girls no matter where since it was a violation of human rights. Whether girls or boys must enjoy the same love and have equal opportunities.
The campaign, including a series of workshops, meetings, parades, performances and training on SRB, also aims to call for joint efforts from the Government and relevant agencies, social organisations and individuals to put an end to an imbalanced SRB – one of the forms of sex discrimination.
NGHIEM TRUNG
Campaign launched to tackle sex ratio imbalance at birth Related image(s)
0 comments:
Post a Comment