Technical Exchange on WPS Agenda and NAP WPS for Social Actors in Viet Nam

ASEAN Member States have recently demonstrated their unwavering commitment to advancing the WPS agenda in the region. As a testament to their commitment, the first-ever ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on WPS (RPA WPS) was unanimously adopted during the 40^th and 41^st ASEAN Summit held in November 2022. This ground-breaking initiative marks a significant milestone in fostering gender equality, peace, and security in ASEAN nations.

The Government of Viet Nam has displayed remarkable efforts in advancing the WPS agenda at international and national levels. In Security Council resolution 1889 (2009), Viet Nam presented a provision on the need to establish indicators to monitor implementation of 1325 and calls for a report on women’s participation and inclusion in peacebuilding. Noteworthy milestones include the organisation of the international workshop on the commemoration of the UNSCR 1325 in 2020 that led to the issuance of the Hanoi Commitment to Actions on WPS. Furthermore, a series of international events held throughout 2021, 2022 and 2023 aimed to bring the NAP models closer to the public.  Additional awareness raising and capacity-strengthening activities accompanied the drafting process of the NAP WPS. With technical assistance from UN Women and led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), these collective efforts culminated in the finalisation of the first-ever NAP WPS that was approved by the Prime Minister on 25^th January 2024, showcasing the unwavering commitment of the Vietnamese government to promote gender equality, peace, and security, and fulfil global and regional commitments on WPS.

To ensure the sustainability of the NAP, it is important to raise awareness about the WPS agenda, the NAP itself, and to secure political will and institutional commitments of the society at large. Because WPS issues are complex and cross-cutting, the NAP is a multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral initiative, and delivering on it requires the collective effort of diverse partners, also including the actors such as the social organisations, academia, private sectors, and the media. Important activities to do is to raise awareness about the WPS agenda, the emerging traditional and non-traditional securities, the need to advance the WPS Agenda in Viet Nam, in the region and in the world, as well as about the NAP and what roles would the social organisation, academia, private sectors and the media could play to strengthen the implementation of the WPS Agenda and the NAP in Viet Nam. Developing awareness-raising strategies at this preliminary stage before the NAP is officially implemented would get all stakeholders committed to generate national ownership of the plan and facilitate a participatory approach for the NAP implementation, monitoring, and resource mobilisation.

Objective of the workshop

This 3-day technical exchange and knowledge sharing is designed to empower social organisations, women machinery, international and national NGOs, academia, and media in Viet Nam by deepening their understanding of the WPS Agenda, equipping them with knowledge on non-traditional security issues, and enhancing their capacity to play a pivotal role in the implementation and advocacy of the NAP WPS. The event is expected to provide knowledge, tools, strategies, and networks needed to effectively contribute to implement the NAP WPS of Viet Nam and thus ultimately taking an active role in peacebuilding and promoting gender equality in Viet Nam.