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Vietnam (officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam) is the easternmost country in Southeast Asia’s Indochina Peninsula, bordered by China, Laos and Cambodia. A one-party communist state, Vietnam emerged from almost three decades of war to become a unified country in 1976. Despite being severely hit by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, Vietnam has become one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia today.
Dramatic changes have taken place since the country began to move from a centrally-planned economy to a more market-oriented one in the 1980s. Economic reforms, increased foreign investment, rapidly growing manufacturing and high-tech industries and a budding young middle class have propelled Vietnam’s GDP growth rate forward, and led to a significantly decreased overall poverty rate. The Human Poverty Index for developing countries ranks Vietnam 36th among the 108 countries for which the index has been calculated. Most recent indicators show that the proportion of people not expected to survive past 40 years of age is 6.7%, while 15% of people live without access to an improved water source. The adult illiteracy rate is close to 10%, and the percentage of children who are underweight for their age (ages 0-5) is 27%. (2007/2008 Human Development Index rankings; http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics).
A growing disparity in wealth between urban and rural, and between the middle and lower classes, is visibly noticeable in Vietnam. Deep pockets of poverty remain in the country, most notably among the 53 ethnic minority communities living mostly in the highlands, which constitute two-thirds of Vietnamese territory. These ethnic minorities make up about 14% of the population, with the rest being the majority Kinh people, who dominate in politics, the economy and cultural life.
Equality between women and men is enshrined in the Vietnamese constitution, and extensive de jure protections exist for women in laws, including in family and labour legislation. A marked gap persists, however, between de jure legislation and the reality of discrimination for women in daily life. Despite the country’s tremendous socio-economic progress, serious challenges confront Vietnamese women, particularly fueled by poverty, widespread and entrenched discriminatory attitudes, and limited access to education, and economic and employment opportunities.
Many Vietnamese women are self-employed or work at home, while those in the labour force tend to be concentrated in slow-growth industries with unstable, low wages, and poor working conditions. Women tend to have fewer professional qualifications than men, and make up greater numbers among the illiterate. Female involvement and ability to participate in public life continues to be low, with serious discrimination between men and women especially rife at the district, commune and village community levels. Violence against women is increasingly endemic, with domestic violence and abuse associated with male child preference occurring at disturbing levels. Trafficking in women and girls has also emerged as a serious cause for concern.
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Vietnam