NA Standing Committee focuses on gender equality The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee discussed the Government’s report on the implementation of the National Targets of Gender Equality at a meeting on September 13.   According to the report, since 2016, gender equality activities have been carried out based on measures set in the National Strategy on Gender Equality in 2011-2020, and National Targets of Gender Equality in 2016-2020. The Government had asked localities, related ministries and agencies to realise recommendations by the NA Social Affairs Committee about gender equality enhancement including reviewing the five-year implementation, integrating gender equality issues in legal documents, promoting information dissemination, and fostering knowledge among staff working in gender equality and policy planning in ministries, sectors and localities. According to the report, thanks to efforts of ministries, sectors and localities, gender equality implementation had achieved encouraging results. Policies and legal regulations on the issue had been gradually completed, creating favourable conditions for women in various fields. The percentage of women in the NA and local People’s councils for 2016-2021 been dramatically increased, however, there were shortcomings in gender equality. So far, only six out of 22 targets in the National Strategy on Gender Equality have fulfilled requirements. Many targets were unreachable as they were too ambitious, per the report. To enhance gender equality, the Government plans to adjust some targets to ensure their feasibility and effectiveness. After assessing the Government report, the NA Social Affairs Committee asked the Government to instruct ministries, sectors and localities to include gender issues in policies and development plans. The Government should consider some targets as priorities to realise in the coming year so as to successfully fulfill the strategy. In the meeting, the NA Legal Committee’s Chairwoman Le Thi Nga said the report should clarify some issues such as violence against women and girls, women and children trafficking, gender imbalance at birth, and policies on prison female wardens. Meanwhile, Nguyen Thanh Hai, head of the National Assembly’s Ombudsman Committee, said that the report needs to tackle the spate of firings of female workers aged over 35. She said the three main reasons of the situation are unclear legal corridors, ineffective inspection, and under-qualified female employees. The same day, deputies also discussed revised Law on Environment Protection Tax. VNA