Last year I went to a celebration of women’s day here in Vietnam where the women’s male colleagues had written little poems about how sexy and beautiful the women looked and how the men appreciated their femininity and beauty. This was such a new and appealing way of celebrating Women’s day to me.

If we look at Vietnam as a whole, the natio has made impressive progress in relation to promoting gender equality. There have been strong gains in reducing child and maternal mortality (e.g., maternal mortality dropped from 233 per 100,000 births in 1990 to 69 per 100,000 births in 2009). Enrollment rates are currently about the same for girls and boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The employment rates for male and female aged 25-64 are fairly close at 93.8 percent and 87.8 percent, respectively. Women leaders are more and more outstanding in public life as well as in private companies.

However, significant challenges still remain in Vietnam. Women’s wages are only 75 percent of men’s wages in general and in the informal sector, women only earn 50 percent of male wages despite similar working hours, education levels and seniority. Women still have less health insurance coverage than their male contemporaries. And while the 2003 Land Law has advanced the inclusion of Women on Land Title Certificates, the majority of Certificates still do not include the woman’s name. Gender based violence also remains a central issue and is rising.