Promoting Gender Equality in Political Decision-Making in Viet Nam

This entry covers two linked interventions: a provincial support programme run by Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA (October 2017 - August 2021) in Bac Kan and Hai Duong provinces, Vietnam, and Vietnam's broader National Strategy on Gender Equality 2021-2030. Both aim to increase women's representation in political decision-making, from commune-level elections to the National Assembly.

APHEDA supported 300 women candidates to stand in the 2016 commune elections, of whom 203 were elected (a 68% success rate); 61% were first-time candidates. By 2017, 1,216 women deputies at provincial and commune levels had formed clubs, networks and committees. Nationally, women held 30.26% of seats in the 15th National Assembly following the 2021 elections - the first time Vietnam crossed the 30% threshold, against a Party target of 35% by 2030. A 2021 UNDP study found that women delegates perform equally to men across core National Assembly functions and disproportionately champion legislation on education, health and social welfare.

Women's participation fell at the highest executive levels in 2021, with only one woman remaining in the 19-member Politburo, and progress is markedly weaker at Party and cabinet leadership than in the legislature. The APHEDA project itself covered only two provinces, so national-level gains reflect broader systemic policy commitment rather than this programme alone.