Going through a joint declaration on women and the economy

The delegates discussing at the meeting

Since its founding, PPWE has proven to be an effective mechanism to successfully promote women's issues in APEC, contributing significantly to the advancement of economic opportunities for women. However, in the context of many current changes, the integration of gender equality and women in the economy has become increasingly difficult. From this current situation, APEC decided to conduct an independent review of the current status of PPWE and made 11 recommendations for improving operational efficiency. As the President of PPWE, Vietnam had actively drafted the content of the report that responded to the implementation of the recommendations to discuss with the economies. Co-chairing this meeting with Vietnamese delegates were delegates from the USA.

The main contents discussed at the meeting included how to continue to promote gender across all APEC working groups and promote integration throughout the APEC project cycle; as well as discussions on PPWE Presidency tenure and the shared responsibility between the public and private sector ... The document "Guidance on gender mainstreaming in APEC", developed and approved by Vietnam, contributes to resolving the issues raised in the recommendations. This document provides guidance on how gender mainstreaming should be integrated into all APEC policies, programs, projects, work and action plans. The guiding gender mainstreaming principles are based on the Framework for the Integration of Women in APEC in 1999. The development of the gender mainstreaming guidelines in APEC was a practical contribution of Vietnam in APEC 2017, receiving the support and appreciation of its members.

Presenting Successful Business in APEC Awards at the meeting

The most important part of the PPWE had been discussing the highest level document of the Forum, which was the Declaration of the APEC Forum for Women and the Economy 2017. The contents of the Declaration revolved around the theme of "Strengthening the Integration and Empowerment of Women in a Changing World."

The Declaration identified gender equality issues that need to be prioritized to resolve: Bridging the gender gap in accessing decent work, property and skills to enhance women's economic and financial integration; access to health care services for women; raising the share of public investment in social services and infrastructure; developing micro-enterprises owned by women as small and medium enterprises; promoting the role and voice of business associations and organizations in developing and implementing policies to increase the participation of women-owned enterprises in the digital age; bridging the gender gap in access to education; improving professional skills for female workers; strengthening of labor market solutions and access to employment for women workers, etc.

On the other hand, the Declaration also followed five APEC priority pillars, including: Access to capital and assets; access to the market; strengthening skills, capacity and health; enhancing leadership and voice, promoting the business potential of women, and fostering innovation and technological progress.

The conference unanimously adopted the Declaration and will present it to the APEC Economic Ministers and Leaders at the High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy (Ministerial Conference) on September 29, 2017. After being adopted at this Dialogue, the Declaration will be submitted to the APEC Leaders in November, 2017 in Da Nang.

Thus, after two days of work, the first official event of the APEC Women and the Economy 2017 Forum was successful. The two biggest goals that Vietnam had put forward and made great efforts in preparation were the "Guiding Principles for Mainstreaming Gender in APEC" and the Declaration of the 2017 Forum for Women and the Economy of APEC, adopted at PPWE 2.

Phong Binh - Thao Chi