Executive Director of UN Women on her first official visit to Viet Nam

Ms Michelle Bachelet, the recently appointed Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) will start her first visit to Viet Nam14 October

Press release | 20 October 2010

Hanoi, 13 October 2010 – Madam Michelle Bachelet, the recently appointed Executive Director of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and Chair of the Social Protection Floor (SPF) Advisory Group, starts her visit to Viet Nam tomorrow, 14 October.

During her 3-day visit to Viet Nam, Mme Bachelet will have meetings with high-level leaders including the Prime Minister and the President of Viet Nam. As Chair of the Social Protection Advisory Group, she will share knowledge and experiences on the ‘Social Protection Floor’ concept and its implementation in various countries, and will learn about Viet Nam’s experience in the field of social protection as part of preparations for a flagship report on the extension of social protection around the world.

Madam Bachelet will lead a high-level discussion on social protection with representatives of the Government of Viet Nam, development partners and civil society organizations on the new initiative, the social protection situation in Viet Nam and effective national responses.

The Social Protection Floor (SPF) Initiative is a global social policy approach promoting integrated strategies that guarantee a minimum level of social protection for all, including access to essential social services and income security. The initiative is co-led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Health Organization (WHO) and involves a group of 17 other collaborating UN agencies aiming to address the recent economic crisis and accelerate recovery. The initiative promotes a set of basic social security rights and transfers, as well as essential services in the area of employment, health, water and sanitation, nutrition, education and family support, in order to protect and empower poor and vulnerable people to work themselves out of poverty.

“No one can deny the crucial role that social protection measures have played during the current global economic crisis. They not only prevented millions of people from falling further into poverty by ensuring access to much needed social services, but also helped to reduce the likelihood of social unrest and made an important contribution to limiting the fall in aggregate demand, thus curtailing the potential depth of the recession”, said Ms. Bachelet.

The Social Protection Floor represents a powerful approach to help Viet Nam mitigate vulnerabilities to external shocks through improving its social protection system, and is particularly relevant as the government increases its focus on social protection in national development planning, including in the next Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) 2011-2015.

“Looking at some of the current targets in the national development plans, we see a strong link with the Social Protection Floor to support key initiatives such as universal health care coverage to be reached by 2014,” said Mr. John Hendra, UN Resident Coordinator for Viet Nam. “Issues such as access to basic social services for all and a minimum income through social assistance need to be high on the agenda, and the Social Protection Floor can support in this.”

Madame Bachelet’s engagement in the Social Protection Floor Initiative is closely linked to her role as the first Executive Director of UN Women, the new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women created by the UN General Assembly on July 2nd 2010. UN Women will begin its work to raise the profile of gender and women's issues on January 1st 2011. In her capacity as head of UN Women, Madam Bachelet will also focus on related issues of gender inequity in Viet Nam and how this links to the Social Protection Floor approach.

During the high-level discussion, the specific linkages between access to basic social services, and active labour market policies and income support measures will be explored with a view to increase employability of the poor and the vulnerable, especially women. Currently in Viet Nam women are over-represented in the most vulnerable segments of the informal economy, exposing them to risks and vulnerabilities. The social protection floor approach could serve to build a common framework for labour market, social insurance, health, social assistance, poverty reduction and social services policies.

Madam Bachelet will raise some of these issues during her meetings with policymakers and partners, and will promote joint UN support for the Social Protection Floor - with a particular focus on the situation of women as one of the most vulnerable groups in need of social protection. The United Nations, in particular through its multilateral networks and the expertise of specialized agencies like the ILO and WHO can support the government in this complex task.

The Mission of the United Nations in Viet Nam

The United Nations, in partnership with the government and people of Viet Nam, works to ensure that all Vietnamese people enjoy an increasingly healthy and prosperous life with greater human dignity and expanded choices. Collectively and through its individual agencies, the United Nations cares and creates opportunities for the poor and most vulnerable, and for youth, to whom the future belongs.

In accordance with the United Nations Charter and Millennium Declaration, the United Nations advances the principles of equality and social justice, while providing impartial advice, technical expertise, access to global knowledge and local experience to meet Viet Nam's development challenges.

For further information please contact:

Ms Le Thi Huong Lien
Communication Officer
ILO Country Office for Viet Nam
Tel: +84 7340902 Ext. 206
Email