Vietnamese company leaders receive UN Women awards for advancing gender equality

[Press release]

Hanoi, Viet Nam – Ten Vietnamese companies have received the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards in recognition of their policies and practices to advance gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community. The five first-place winners will qualify for the regional competition in November held by UN Women for the second time in the Asia-Pacific.

Imex Pan Pacific topped the Leadership Commitment Award, Intel Products Viet Nam bagged the Gender-Inclusive Workplace Award, while Unilever Viet Nam won the Gender-Responsive Marketplace Award. BRG Group won the Community and Industry Engagement Award, while Julie Sandlau Viet Nam was crowned SMEs Champion in Leadership Commitment.

The UN Women 2021 Viet Nam WEPs Awards, which is organized through the EU-funded WeEmpowerAsia programme, honours companies driving progress for gender equality in Viet Nam in line with the country’s Gender Equality Law.

Chairwoman of the Viet Nam Women Entrepreneurs Council (VWEC), Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh,  highlighted “The 2021 WEPs Awards Ceremony takes place in context of the COVID-19 pandemic marking a process of outstanding efforts of businesses, both resilient to the pandemic and persistent with promoting gender equality commitment” She focused “Currently, gender equality in society and in business does not only refer to equality between women and men but also includes homosexual, bisexual, asexual and transgendered people who should be able to enjoy the same conditions and opportunities to contribute to and benefit from the achievements of businesses and society. Therefore, businesses should also pay attention to promoting gender diversity in the workplace, market and community.”

Representative of UN Women in Viet Nam Elisa Fernandez Saenz said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women's economic participation.  Gender equality cannot be achieved without active engage of the business community. We need more than ever for companies to strengthen the application of women’s empowerment principles in the workplace, marketplace, supply chain and community to enable the full and safe participation of women as workers and business owners in the socio-economic recovery of Viet Nam. The 2021 WEPs Awardees are models, inspiring other businesses to follow”

The Viet Nam 2021 WEPs Awards Ceremony was held in Hanoi with 200 delegates, including the Vice Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Viet Nam Ms Nguyen Thi Ha; UN Women Representative in Viet Nam Elisa Fernandez Saenz; VWEC Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, and the representative of the EU Delegation to Viet Nam Mr. Matthieu Penot, Attaché Trade Cooperation.

The event was part of a series of WEPs Awards ceremonies held in the Philippines, Thailand, China, Indonesia, India, and Malaysia in October 2021. The first-place winners from all countries will have the chance to be selected as Asia-Pacific winners at the regional ceremony on 18 November 2021 from 14:00 – 16:00 (GMT+7) held virtually from Bangkok.

The winners of the national trophies in five awards categories were:

Leadership Commitment Award Category
Champion: Imex Pan Pacific Co., Ltd
1st Runner-up: Fine Scandinavia Co., Ltd

Gender-inclusive Workplace Award Category
Champion: Intel Products Vietnam Co., Ltd
1st Runner-up: Olam Vietnam Limited
2nd Runner-up: Hanel Production and Import- Export Joint Stock Company

Gender-responsive Marketplace Award Category
Champion: Unilever Vietnam International Company Limited
1st Runner-up: Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company

Community and Industry Engagement Award Category
Champion: BRG Group., Jsc

SMEs Champion
In Leadership Commitment: Julie Sandlau Vietnam Co. Ltd
In Gender Inclusive Workplace: Orchid Joint Stock Company