English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

CEDAW and the Law:
among the policies for the development of female cadres are the following: formulating,
amending and implementing policies for the development of female cadres in the
scientific research, administration and management. There should be specific policies
for training, promoting and rotating female cadres, especially those who are intellectuals,
workers, ethnic minorities, and religious women;
the “generation of new female cadres needs to be placed in the national strategy for
human resource development. Priority should be given to women recruitments with educational
qualifications for college, university or post graduate degrees. Paying attention
to the training and development of talented women.”;
the “Women’s Union at different levels, female cadres and party members need to be
more active and creative in advising, recommending and creating more sources of female
cadres or introducing outstanding women to become party members. Reducing
the attitude of accepting the statu
Therefore, policy directions for the participation and leadership of women in the
Communist Party of Viet Nam and the State are available. In the Resolution on Work for
Women, the Communist Party of Viet Nam strongly endorsed female leadership, especially by
setting proportion of women in the Central Committee, as well as in State legislative and executive
offices.
184
Nevertheless, female leadership within the Communist Party of Viet Nam is low. 369
Female participation in the Central Committee has declined from 10.6 percent in the 8th
Congress (1996-2000) to 8.0 percent in the 9th Congress (2001-2005) and to 7.5 percent in
the 10th Congress (2006-2010). Female participation at the provincial level executive committee
was 11.3 percent in 1996-2000 and 11.32 percent in 2001-2005 and 11.75 percent in 2006-
2010. At the district level executive committee, female representation was 11.68 percent in
1996-2000, 12.89 percent in 2001-2005 and 14.74 percent in 2006-2010. In the Political
Bureau, in 8th Tenure (1996-2000), there was one female member amounting to 5.3 percent
of members. In the 9th Tenure (2001-2005) and 10th Tenure (2006-2010), there was no female
member. Hence, despite the earlier pronouncements, there are few female leaders in the
Communist Party of Viet Nam. Total female membership in the Communist Party of Viet Nam
in 2000 is 19.74 percent of total membership, which impacts heavily on the choice of female
leaders for the branches of the State. Therefore, the Communist Party of Viet Nam’s will to
increase female participation and leadership must be reflected in increased female participation
and leadership in key bodies.
Recommendation: Although Communist Party of Viet Nam documents are not
legal documents, it is encouraged that a Communist Party of Viet Nam document must
clearly specify a concrete mechanism to enable female participation to a minimum of 30
percent in all aspects of decision-making, policy formulation and implementation. This
mechanism can be a concrete plan with steps to reach the 30 percent proportion within
a specific time frame, with incentives or disincentives for non-compliance, especially
in the committees at all levels, with monitoring and enforcement mechanisms and
369
See Party Organization Commission, p. 330
Review of key legal documents and compliance with CEDAW