The Participation of Women in Politics in Vietnam: Achievements, Challenges and Some Solutions in the New Period

NGUYỄN HỮU MINH*

Abstract: The 2006 Law on Gender Equality has created an important legal framework to achieve the goal of gender equality in all areas of social and family life, including politics. Subsequently, in 2007 Politburo issued Resolution 11 to clarify the viewpoint on the work of female officials during the period of industrialization and modernization of the country and a number of specific targets on female officials. Over the past 10 years, there have been many implementation activities aimed at increasing the number and quality of female officials participating in leadership and management. Thanks to this, the participation of women in the political life of the country has achieved many good results. The percentage of women members in the Party’s Politburo and Central Committee has increased in the last three terms, and the percentage of women in the National Assembly has begun to increase. However, compared to the targets set in Resolution 11, almost none of the targets on gender equality in politics has been achieved. In some areas, the percentage of female leaders and managers has increased but it has not been stable. This paper points out some basic causes of the above limitations: awareness of the role of women; the implementation of policies for female officials; and personnel planning, preparation, training, and employment of female officials. From the analysis, the article proposes a number of solutions to increase women's participation in politics in the new period.

Key words: Women, Politics, Political Participation Women, Policy.

1. Political Participation of Vietnamese Women: Efforts and Achievements

The Party and the State have created an important legal framework with targets to achieve the goal of gender equality in all areas of social and family life, including politics. The Law on Gender Equality, passed by the 11th National Assembly at its tenth session on November 29, 2006, emphasizes measures to promote gender equality in politics. They include (a) Ensuring an appropriate proportion of female National Assembly deputies and People's Council deputies consistent with national gender equality goals; and (b) Ensuring an appropriate proportion of women in state positions aligned with national gender equality goals.

Following this law, the Politburo has approved Resolution No. 11-NQ/TW (Resolution 11), on April 27, 2007, to clarify the viewpoint on the political work of women in the period of accelerating industrialization and modernization for the country: "Building up and developing a solid cadre of female officials to meet the great role of women is an objective requirement and an important provision in the personnel strategy of the Party.” This resolution defines important orientations for planning, training, and employing female officials, including: (a) Developing a plan for female officials in the master plan for Party officials at each level, branch and locality; (b) Taking care of training and retraining female officials in order to be proactive with regards to personnel; and (c) Implementing the principle of equality between men and women in using age in planning, training, promotion and appointment. It also sets targets to develop a contingent of key female leaders at all levels by 2020. Female members must be 25% or more in Party committees and 35% to 40% in the National Assembly and People's Councils. Agencies and units having 30 percent or more women, must have women among their leaders. The Resolution 11 targets are required to be met within the National Strategy on Gender Equality 2011-2020 (2011-2020 National Strategy), signed by the Prime Minister on December 24, 2010, to "enhance the participation of women in management and leadership positions, in order to gradually reduce the gender gap in the political field.”

After more than 10 years of implementing the Law on Gender Equality, Resolution 11, and the 2011-2020 National Strategy, the Party, State and all of society have carried out many active and diverse activities to create a durable legal framework and socio-economic basis for achieving the goal of gender equality.

1.1. Some implementation activities

Foremost is the building of a legal basis for the realization of the goal of gender equality in politics. Gender mainstreaming (GM) in the formulation and implementation of policies, laws, programs, plans, schemes, and such has been carried out at all levels and sectors. Based on the Law on Gender Equality and the 2011-2020 National Strategy, the Party has issued many resolutions and directives to increase the number of female officials.[1] Recognizing the importance of increasing the number of female candidates in order to ensure a higher proportion of women elected, the National Assembly has passed the Law on Election of National Assembly deputies and People's Council deputies (Law No. 85/2015/QH13), which stipulates that women must constitute at least 35% of all candidates for the National Assembly and People's Council (Article 18 and Article 19). The Prime Minister has also issued Decision No. 215/QD-TTg of February 16, 2011, guiding the structure, composition and number of People's Council deputies at all levels for the term of 2011-2016, which sets an overall target of 30% or more female deputies. And the Government has established guidelines to ensure the participation of women in the political system, such as appointing female leaders at ministerial-level agencies and increasing the number of ethnic minority women and rural women.[2]

The Prime Minister's Decision No. 800/QD-TTg, dated July 2, 2018, adjusts and supplements a number of contents of the 2011-2020 National Strategy and emphasizes specific solutions. They include developing, approving and implementing personnel plans for the arrangement, assignment, evaluation and training of female officials, civil servants and public employees in various leadership and managerial positions at all levels of state organizations with specific targets and feasible solutions. Annually, personnel planning is to be reviewed, adjusted and supplemented. Capacity building for female officials, civil servants and public employees is supported to increase their participation in managerial, leadership and elected bodies, especially for young female leaders and ethnic minority female leaders.

Besides creating a legal framework, the Government has approved specific projects to increase the participation of women in the political system and to promote their role as heads of organizations. For example, the Project on Implementation of Measures to Ensure Gender Equality for Female Officials, Civil Servants and Public Employees in the 2016-2020 Period, has been approved and is being implemented nationwide.[3] The 2016 Prime Minister’s Decision No. 178/QD-TTg regarding to implementation plan of “The Project on Strengthening the Party's Leadership on Gender Equality and for Women’s Advancement in New Context” has been issued. The National Action Plan to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has also been promulgated in Decision No. 622/QD-TTg of May 10, 2017.

The Government, ministries, and socio-political organizations have also implemented many activities to achieve the goal of gender equality in politics, such as communication, training to improve the capacity of female officials, and building forums and networks to connect women leaders. In particular, in recent years, during elections for deputies to the National Assembly and Party congresses at all levels, vigorous communication activities have taken place to promote the Party's and the State's policies and laws on gender equality. These communication campaigns have raised awareness, responsibility, and consensus and the support from both the political system and the people, for the benefits of having women in leadership and management. This contributes to raising the percentage of women participating in Party Committees, the National Assembly, and People's Councils at all levels. Training has been focusing on female deputies and candidates in the National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels; on female managers and leaders; and on personnel planning for managers and leaders at all levels (Ministry of Labor-Invalid and Social Affairs-MOLISA, 2018).

In order to improve accountability and strengthen the implementation of gender-responsive institutions, the Government continues to prioritize budget allocation for gender equality at both the central and local levels. The Government has made a total investment of VND 180 billion to implement the Project on Supporting the Achievement of National Targets for Gender Equality, (Project for short) that is a part of the National Targeted Program for the System of Social Assistance for the Period 2016-2020.[4] From 2016 to 2019, the Project’s budget has received a VND 103 billion, reaching to about 57% of the total approved budget (MOLISA, 2018).

Gender-disaggregated statistics have also been implemented. The Government has issued Decision No. 56/2011/QD-TTg, on October 14, 2011, promulgating the National Gender Development Statistical Indicators (Bo chi tieu thong ke phat trien gioi quoc gia-NGDSI). The Ministry of Planning and Investment has issued Circular No. 10/2019/TT-BKHDT, on July 30, 2019, providing for the new national indicators to monitor and evaluate targets under the 2011-2020 National Strategy. Many publications on gender statistics have also been compiled and published.[5] In addition, research and training institutions and international organizations have published many research results on gender equality, providing scientific arguments for policymaking on gender issues.

1.2. Achievements and results

With the above-mentioned active efforts, women’s participation in the country's political life has increased (see Table 1). Female membership in the Politburo and the Central Committee of the Party has increased for three terms. The percentage of females in the 14th term of the National Assembly (2016-2021) has increased by 2.3 percentage points, compared to the 13^th term (2011-2016), and by 1 percentage point, compared to the 12^th term (2006-2011). This increase shows the effectiveness of the solution to increase early on the number of female candidates for election. It is also significant that for the first time, since 2016, the Chair of the National Assembly is a woman, and there are three women members of the Politburo. By the end of 2017, the proportion of women in the National Assembly has reached 27.1%, which higher than the global average of 23.4% and the Asia region average of 18.6% (IPU, 2017). In 2018, 27.2% of the National Assembly are women. The proportion of women chairing National Assembly committees has also increased by 12 percentage point since 2011, reaching 23.1% in December 2016. In 2017, the number of ministerial-level agencies with key female leaders (Minister or Vice Minister) is 13 out of 30, and in 2018, it was 14 out of 30 (MOLISA, 2018). The percentage of women participating in provincial and commune Party Committees as well as People's Councils at all levels has also increased, although the level is not high and has not reached the target. Overall, these achievements show a positive trend of women's participation in the political system.

Table 1. Proportion of Women Participating in Politburo, Party Central Committee, National Assembly, Party Committee and People's Council at all Levels (in percentage)

Source: Report on the results of the Party Committees and Party Cells for the term 2015-2020, Central Party Personnel Department; Official website of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at http://dbqh.na.gov.vn/. Quoted from the Appendix of the 10-year Report on Implementation of the Gender Equality Law of MOLISA, 2018.

2. Challenges and Main Causes

Although the participation of women in leadership and management has increased, none of the targets on gender equality in politics set by Resolution 11 and the National Strategy has been met. The increase in the number of female National Assembly deputies is not stable; there is a lower percentage of female deputies in the 13^th term than the 12^th term. Compared to the 2006-2011 term, female membership in Party’s district committees for the 2016-2021 term has also decreased. The number of key leaders at the ministerial level is now equal to or less than from 2012-2016. Moreover, compared to the previous five-year period, since 2016, the number of female Chairs and Vice Chairs of provincial People’s Committees has decreased. The situation is similar for the percentage of female officials who are Chairs at the district and commune levels (MOLISA, 2018). By international comparison, in the Global Gender Gap Index for 2019, overall Viet Nam ranks 87 out of 153 countries, (down 10 places compared to 2018), while specifically for the percentage of women participating in politics, Vietnam ranks only 110 (WEF, 2019). Some of the basic causes of these limitations are discussed next.

2.1. Fixed ideas about the role of women

Traditional gender stereotypes expect women to focus on care activities within the family and leave men do work in the community and society (Men outside, Women inside). As well, the idea that women are not appropriate for leadership and management, because they are not as far-sighted as men, remains strong among a portion of officials and people, including those who have a right to make personnel decisions at all levels (Nguyen Huu Minh and Tran Thi Van Anh, 2010; Tran Quy Long and colleagues, 2017; Tran Thi Hong, 2020). Therefore, people tend to support men as leaders if women and men have the same capabilities and qualifications. Such gender prejudices among many leaders has led to a lack of specific commitments and actions to promote the training and employment of female officials in managerial positions (MOLISA, 2018). In fact, some leaders are biased against women or support women in words but not in action.

Women's attitudes towards leadership also reflect gender stereotypes. Some female officials want to spend more time on housework because they perceive it as a natural female vocation. Political and social participation is seen as the work of men. Thus satisfied, they do not desire a promotion and do not obtain all the qualifications required for appointment to leadership positions (MOLISA, 2018; Tran Thi Hong, 2020).

Gender stereotypes in family life make family members, especially husbands, unwilling to create favorable conditions for women to participate in public life. The support of husbands and other family members for the advancement of women is very important to their success. Many people and officials emphasize that family factors is the primary obstacle blocking women's participation in politics (Tran Thi Hong, 2020). When women are forced to choose between housework and work in society, traditional gender stereotypes make women tend to choose housework, letting their husbands work in society. In the context of a society where the economy is still underdeveloped, many people consider this a reasonable choice to maximize family benefits (Nguyen Huu Minh and Tran Thi Van Anh, 2010; Tran Thi Hong, 2020).

2.2. Implementation of policies for female officials is not drastic and specific

Although the viewpoints and goals for strengthening female officials by 2020 and the tasks of building a cadre of female officials, as set out in Resolution 11, are very clear, in reality, many Party committees within localities and ministries have no strict, close and strong directives with specific measures. Some guiding documents and specific regulations on personnel planning, training, and appointment pursuant to Resolution 11 do not reflect completely the spirit of the resolution. Many provinces and central cities, ministries, and agencies still discriminate based on age in personnel planning, appointment, and promotion. Some provisions have not been given specific instructions, leading to difficulties in implementation, such as the policy allowing female officials, civil servants and officials when participating in training and retraining to bring their children aged under 36 months[7] and the policy for selecting ethnic minority female officials (Tran Thi Hong, 2020).

Statistics and reporting on gender equality have also not been timely and highly accurate. Data cannot be collected for some indicators in the 2011-2020 National Strategy, because of unclear assignment of responsibility for information collection. These targets include, for example, having key female leaders in agencies and units with 30% or higher of women and having leaders in People's Committees at the district and commune levels.

Furthermore, compliance with reporting procedures have not been strict. Monitoring and supervision of the implementation of policies and laws on gender equality in politics has not been paid adequate attention, especially for the process of identifying, selecting, training and retraining female officials. There are no appropriate sanctions against heads of the Party and administrative units when targets and solutions are not implemented (Nguyen Huu Minh and Tran Thi Van Anh, 2010; MOLISA, 2018).

Gender equality indicators in political participation have also not been appropriately integrated into the 2011-2020 socio-economic development plans for the localities, ministries, and sectors. Gender mainstreaming is often difficult due to many shortcomings, such as a lack of leadership commitment; lack of appropriate strategy; lack of resources and incompetent staff; lack of a monitoring, evaluation and accountability system; and lack of necessary data to analyze gender inequality. (MOLISA, 2018; Discussion on the implementation of 2011-2020 National Strategy in Can Tho, Khanh Hoa and Hai Duong, 2020).

One of the key obstacles that is a major impediment to improving the number and quality of female leaders, is the difference in the retirement age for men and women, due to regulations that base personnel planning, training and retraining, nomination, and appointment on the age of retirement. Up to now, women can retire five years before men. According to the 2019 Labor Law, by 2030 women will still be retiring three years and eight months earlier than men. These age-based regulations place men and women on different levels by comparison, making it difficult to plan for and train female officials.

2.3. Not fully grasping a gender equality perspective in planning, training, and employing female officials

Personnel planning

Personnel planning in some agencies has not integrated a gender equality perspective due to the retirement age as mentioned above. The selection of staff for planning has not been based on scientific analysis and discovering potentials for early retraining and planning. In many cases, the processes are formalistic and do not really provide a basis for developing managerial staff. Therefore, there are not enough qualified human resources when needed to appoint female leaders who meet the requirements (Nguyen Huu Minh and Tran Thi Van Anh, 2010; Tran Thi Hong, 2020).

Training and employing female officials

Training female staff is the most important solution for developing female staff in terms of quality and quantity; however, due to regulations with different ages for retirement, training opportunities for female officials are reduced compared to men. Although legal documents on training for officials after the passage of the Law on Gender Equality have gradually overcome the retirement age differences between men and women, female officials are still more disadvantaged than male officials in having training opportunities.[8] This greatly limits the contribution of female officials, especially those older than 40, at a time when their family and children situation is relatively stable. The issue of recruiting and training female officials among ethnic minorities has not been concretely made into policies for implementation (Tran Thi Hong, 2020).

In discussing training and employment of female officials, attention should be paid to the timing for having and rearing children by women, because they have a great responsibility that men cannot completely replace. Due to biological characteristics, this timing often occurs at the early stage of a woman’s career or employment, when she also needs to invest most of her time and energy to familiarize herself with her job and improve her professional credentials. It is the difficulties associated with this early stage which slows the long-term progress for many women. In making decisions on training and employment of officials, leaders should take into account gender characteristics and the appropriate timing for professional development, such as for short-term and long-term training, for officials in general and for female officials in particular. Therefore, besides the efforts made by women, special mechanisms and policies are needed to help them during this period.

As for the training and retraining of officials, it is important to have a specific roadmap for developing human resources. In reality, this task has yet to be performed well. Thus, it is quite common that in many organizations, although they may have a plan, suitable female officials cannot be found for promotion and appointment when needed, because they lack specific measures for training and developing female staff.

3. Some Solutions to Increase the Participation of Women in Politics in the New Period

In recent years, the Party and State have paid more attention to female participation in politics.[9] The participation of women in leadership and management is becoming more familiar to people. Great examples of outstanding women in different areas of society have changed people's view of women's roles and capacities. A new national strategy for gender equality for the 2021-2030 period is under development; an amendment to the Law on Gender Equality is under consideration. Increasing awareness and education among people, especially among women, will help them to meet new requirements for gender equality in general and for women's participation in politics in particular.

However, Vietnamese women also face great challenges in participating in politics. A proportion of officials are not aware of the importance of increasing the participation of women in politics for the development of the country and that this is an exercise of woman’s rights. There are also many inadequacies in the substance of policies as well as their execution, leaving many plans and guidelines to stay on paper only. The targets for gender equality in general and in politics in particular still do not have sanctions for their enforcement.

The new decade demands more concrete and effective measures to increase women's participation in politics. Based on the above analysis, the following solutions could be considered:

1. Continue to strengthen communication campaigns to change awareness among leaders and people, both men and women, about the role of women. Gender equality needs to be perceived not only as a tool to achieve specific purposes, but also as a basic value and a human right. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that the more active women are in participating in politics, the faster the country will develop and become successful.

2. Mainstream gender perspectives into guidelines and policies of the Party and the State in a substantive and proper manner. This includes conducting gender analysis in a scientific manner, ensuring that differences between women and men are respected, reviewed and resolved proactively from the start, and at all stages and levels of the policy process. Databases with gender-disaggregated data must be established to ensure that policies are in line with gender equality goals.

3. Continue to review existing policies based on the Law on Gender Equality and Resolution 11 of the Party. Some points to review and revise include the age of appointment for leaders and the age of selection for training. Specifically, there should be specific measures on the age for training and on personnel planning and appointment of female officials, in order to ensure equal opportunity between male and female officials, to enable women to contribute better to the general development of the country. Thus, the age for training, retraining and appointment of female officials should be more flexible and be seen as a special measure to advance gender equality.

4. The implementation of specific policies and regulations on the participation of female officials depends very much on the leaders of units, namely the head of the unit and the party secretary. Therefore, upholding the responsibility of leaders is very important in increasing women's participation in politics.

5. One of the big questions is why women's political participation is still low, although there have been a decade of applying many measures; increased attention to gender equality issues by leaders; more awareness of the role of women by officials and the public; and greater support from society and international organizations? Perhaps the fracture lies in the mechanism for selecting, training, electing, and appointing female officials. For example, one suggestion from past years’ experience with elections is to increase the number of female candidates, as this has played an important role in raising the proportion of women in the National Assembly. Besides this, increasing the quality of female candidates is also a point of concern. Therefore, it is reasonable to avoid the current formula of combining the criteria of being young, female and from an ethnicity minority group for candidates.

6. Periodically organize monitoring and evaluation and have appropriate incentives and sanctions to ensure the fulfillment of gender equality targets in politics.

7. Specific procedures for personnel planning and training are needed. In principle, potential personnel sources should start from the grassroots level, and start at onboarding, when new staff begin working. Increasing training for female officials is very important to prepare a pipeline of officials, avoiding the situation of waiting just until election time to review whether female candidates are qualified.

8. Expanding services to assist with domestic duties is important to reduce the time female staff spend on housework and care work, enabling them to strive to achieve the qualifications and skills necessary for leadership positions. Along with this, it is necessary to strengthen communication to encourage men to do more housework, creating favorable conditions for women to develop their full potential to contribute to public life.

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