The report provides an overview of the relationship between gender equality and climate change in Viet Nam through five primary areas, including (1) Access to early warning and forecast information, (2) Agriculture and Food Security, (3) Energy, (4) Waste Management, and (5) People and health. Furthermore, the report analyses related policy gaps, challenges, and opportunities for mainstreaming gender into climate change and recommends solutions for integrating gender into the National Climate Change Strategy for 2050.

1. Implemented by
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: CLIMATE CHANGE
AND GENDER EQUALITY IN VIET NAM
ACHIEVEMENTS, POLICY GAPS, CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

2. Mekong Delta Climate Resilience Programme (MCRP, 2019-2025)
is a development cooperation programme co-financed by the
GovernmentsofGermany,Switzerland,andVietNam,implemented
by Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Ministry of
Construction, and GIZ along with 13 Mekong Delta provinces. The
programme‘s objective is to support the Vietnamese authorities in
improving the climate resilient management of natural resources
in the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta to ensure sustainable
development in the region.
2

3. INTRODUCTION
Vietnamhasjoinedinternationalcommitments
on climate change response and gender equality.
In the period 2011-2020, the Vietnamese
Government issued a series of policies promoting
action on both climate change and gender
equality. In general, the policies on or related to
climate change are adequate, but the degree of
gender mainstreaming is somewhat limited. Most
of the climate change policies for the period 2011-
2020 are not gender responsive. Recently, Gender
mainstreaming has been improved in several
national climate change policies for the 2021-2030
period. This is reflected in the updated Nationally
Determined Contribution (NDC) and the National
Adaptation Plan on Climate Change (NAP-CC),
period 2021-2030, vision to 2050, and due in large
part to the support of international partners such
as GIZ, UN WOMEN and the UNDP.
1. SECTION 1: LINKAGE BETWEEN CLI-
MATE CHANGE AND GENDER EQUALITY
Response to climate change manifests in
two ways: firstly, by mitigating greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions through innovative solutions
in production and consumption and, secondly
by adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate
change and strengthening resilience in order to
reduce risks and vulnerability, loss and damage.
Climate change has differential impacts on men
and women. In general, women, the poor, and
disadvantaged social groups are more vulnerable
to the adverse impacts of climate change.
Climate change can negatively affect human
health in diverse ways. Differences in the
vulnerability to these effects between men and
women are due not only to biological factors but
also to prevailing social norms. Pregnant women
are especially susceptible to diseases passed on by
waterborne vectors. Climate change also affects
women’s ability to seek health care and maternity
services.
Women play important and diverse roles in
agriculture but are at a disadvantage compared
to their male counterparts. This is related to their
limited access to productive resources such as
land, finance, water, infrastructure, technology
and labour. In a changing climate, inadequate
access to safe potable water affects not only health
but also agricultural productivity. It increases
the total workload of women tasked with the
collection, storage and distribution of water.
Poverty, natural disasters, violence and climate
stress often push men to find work in other fields
or away from home, consequently increasing the
workload for women. Furthermore, women often
have limited decision-making power and are less
likely to obtain legal rights to assets and resources,
including residential and productive land.
Fewer than 30% of jobs in the renewable
energy sector are held by women (IRENA
(2021). Renewable Energy and Jobs). Renewable
energy requires highly mobile workers, and the
low percentage of women enrolled in science,
technology and engineering (STEM) fields limits
their participation. Lack of access to energy affects
womenintheirrolesofhouseholdmanagement,as
without access to clean fuels for cooking they have
to spend time and energy looking for traditional
fuels. In the field of waste management, women
often work collecting, sorting and cleaning garbage
while men more often load, pack and transport
recyclables. Heavy rains, flooding and extreme
heat can reduce the productivity and income of
those who scavenge waste for a living, while also
exacerbating the associated health risks. This is
especially true for women, who have more direct
contact with untreated waste than do men. At the
household level, women play a dual role, both as
generators of domestic waste and also as those
most responsible for handling this waste.
2. SECTION2:OVERVIEWOFTHERESULTS
OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY
IMPLEMENTATION 2011 – 2020
2.1. Key results of the implementation of the
National Climate Change Strategy for the
period of 2011-2020
The National Climate Change Strategy for the
period 2011-2020 was issued in 2011, with four
specific objectives and ten tasks and solutions
to achieve these. Gender equality is spelled out
in the text of the first objective, but not in the
accompanying groups of tasks and solutions.
The overall results of the Strategy have been
3

4. encouraging, as reflected in the achievements in
all ten groups. Many policies have been issued and
much legislation and has been enacted. Along with
that, disaster response and climate monitoring,
securing food sovereignty and water resources,
responding to rising sea levels, forest protection
and sustainable development, development of
renewable and new energy sources, promotion
of efficient use of energy have achieved
satisfactory results. Efforts in strengthening the
leadership role of the State, building climate-
resilient communities, science and technology
development; strengthening international
cooperation and diversifying resources have made
significant achievements.
2.2. Status and results of the implementation
of the National Climate Change Strategy
2011-2020 through a gendered lens
• Access to forecasts and warnings of impending
natural disasters and climate change.
Sixty percent of women are unaware of
climate change compared to 36% of men. People’s
accessibility to disaster risk and climate change
informationdependsonmyriadfactors.Availability
of information, and its mode of dissemination are
key. But individual factors, such as receptiveness
of such knowledge and individual cognitive
capacity also play a role. Local communities still
face obstacles in accessing information about
disaster risk, such as low broadcast frequency in
mass media and inappropriate broadcasting times.
Ethnic minorities often suffer greater difficulty
due to limitations in both means of dissemination
and linguistic hurdles. Furthermore, it is routinely
men in a community who are most often invited
to participate in community training sessions
and this knowledge is rarely shared with women.
Women access disaster information mostly
through television and receive little early warning
instruction.
• Agriculture and food security
Women and men often take on distinct roles
and responsibilities in production associated with
rural livelihoods. Women are more involved in land
preparation, planting and weeding, poultry care,
food processing, preparation and sale. The men
tend to take on jobs that involve taking care of
large livestock, such as catching and slaughtering
animals. In forestry, women are the main labor
force, working all stages of production from
harvesting, protecting forests, processing, and
exporting timber. Men tend to take higher paying
jobs such as sawing wood, carving dressed timber
and operating machinery. Furthermore, men have
greater land ownership rights than women, with
46% of men holding cropland use certificates
compared to only 15.7% of women (2014). Limited
land rights consequently limit women’s access to
credit programmes for climate change adaptation,
income diversification, and post-disaster recovery.
In addition, women also have less access to
vocational training and agricultural extension
services than men.
• Water resources and access to clean water
Vietnamese women make up the majority
of the workforce in the agricultural sector, so
climate-induced water scarcity puts more women
at risk of crop failure, resulting in loss of income.
According to traditional roles and social norms in
Viet Nam, women are additionally assigned the
household chores, hence they carry the burden of
securing water for the family, including traveling
long distances to fetch this commodity. As water
becomes scarcer, their workload increases.
Spending extra time collecting water consequently
limits social and educational opportunities.
• Energy production and consumption
Vietnam has fewer women in the energy sector
than men. Jobs in this field are still perceived as
involving hard labor and many require formal
science, technology, engineering, and math
(STEM) credentials. The proportion of Vietnamese
women who attain STEM qualifications is 15.35%
compared to 31.19% for men. Thus many women
are excluded from participation in the sector.
Women assume the most responsibility for
housework and family care. Accordingly, energy-
consuming home appliances are more closely
related to the roles of women. That being said,
women play a significant role in the practice of
energy efficiency. Moreover, in some remote
areas a lack of clean energy causes women and
girls to spend time collecting fuel, resulting in
4

5. limited opportunities to participate in social and
economic activities.
• Waste management
Gender division of labour and consumption
patterns strongly influence household waste
generation and management. From this
perspective, women play a dual role- they tend to
generate more domestic waste and at the same
time, must manage this waste. In the waste value
chain, it is mostly women who collect, sort, recycle
and sell valuable materials. Meanwhile, men
perform jobs that require more physical strength,
such as loading, unloading, and transporting
waste. Most staff working in rural environmental
services have no training in occupational safety
and hygiene.
• People and health
In Vietnam, men are more at risk in the
event of disaster as they are participating in
relocation, evacuation and search and rescue
activities whilst and women are more prone
to chronic health problems. The incidence of
diarrhea and gynecological diseases increases
after natural disasters due to poor water and
sanitation. Climate-sensitive diseases including
dengue, diarrhea, malaria, and influenza are
common in Vietnam. Heatwaves are associated
with increased mortality from all disease, causing
risk of heat stroke, stroke, myocardial infarction,
and exacerbation of conditions such as high blood
pressure. This impact is more severe for groups
of informal workers, both male and female, who
often must work outdoors or in an environment
that is not well ventilated and has inadequate
labor protections.
• Strengthening the leadership role of the State
and scientific research institutions
Ingeneral,genderequalityhasbeenconsidered
in the process of drafting legal documents for
environmental protection and climate change
responsepolicies.However,gendermainstreaming
has not been comprehensively considered by
the policy formulation team and has not been
concretised in tasks and solutions. This leads to a
situation in which gender equality is “mentioned”
rather than substantively integrated into solution
and action plans. With regards to research and
science, there are no gender-disaggregated data
on numbers of climate change scientists. The
assessment of the roles and relative contributions
of men and women in the field of climate change
remains unclear.
3. SECTION 3: GENDER AND CLIMATE
CHANGE GAP IN RELATED NATIONAL
POLICY
3.1. Gender equality in national climate
change policies
• Gender equality in some related laws
The Environmental Protection Law was revised
in 2020. The provisions on climate change range
from Articles 90 to 96. Gender equality is reflected
in the regulations of environmental protection
principles, nevertheless, gender sensitivity is
not reflected in the articles and clauses of the
law. Similarly, the Meteorology and Hydrology
Law (2015) stipulates gender equality in Clause
4, Article 5. However, this is the only text that
mentions gender equality, so gender sensitivity
is not integrated into the body of the Law. In
addition, the Law on Natural Disaster Prevention
and Control (2013) mentions women in Article 3.
Notably, the regulation only refers to women who
are pregnant and raising children under 12 months
old and does not address women in general. The
principle of gender equality is specified in Article
4 of this law. Guidelines for gender mainstreaming
in disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities fall under
theresponsibilityoftheMinistryofLabour,Invalids
and Social Affairs, as specified in Clause 14, Article
42. The Natural Disaster Prevention and Control
Law (2013) has been amended and supplemented
with several articles by Law No. 40/2020/QH14;
however, there is no article or clause specifically
mentioning gender equality or women.
• Gender equality in national strategies and
action plans in response to climate change
The National Climate Change Strategy for
the period 2011-2020 defines four specific
objectives and ten groups of tasks and solutions.
Unfortunately, gender responsive content
5

6. 6
appears solely in the sub-task for community
health care. For the rest of the strategy, gender
equality is not specifically mentioned in any of the
tasks and solutions. Consequently, the national
action plan for climate change for the period
2012-2020 is fully “gender blind”. Furthermore,
gender sensitivity is similarly absent in the Paris
Agreement Implementation Plan for Climate
Change of Viet Nam. Among the total sixty-eight
tasks of the Plan, none address gender equality
or gender needs. As a systemic deficiency, the
Target Program to respond to climate change
and green growth for the period 2016-2020 also
lacks the gender equality aspect. Furthermore,
the state management agencies for GE and social
organizations that support and protect women’s
rights are also not identified in this legislation.
Gender responsiveness content has been
improved in the NAP-CC period 2021 - 2030,
vision to 2050 and the updated NDC (2020).
Social aspects, including gender/women, were
briefly analyzed in the general assessment of
climate change in Vietnam. Gender equality has
been scrutinized deeply in the areas of public
health, gender equality and child protection.
Gender equality has been identified as a task
in the group of tasks and solutions for capacity
building and development of female human
resources. Regrettably, gender equality is
(again) not identified in the solutions, nor in the
evaluation criteria of the NDC, and has not been
considered in both the strategic perspective
and the objectives of the NAP-CC 2021-2030. In
summary, gender equality has been omitted from
most of the national climate change response
policies for the period 2011-2020. This situation
is marginally remedied in the climate change
policies for the period of 2021-2030, with a vision
to 2050, specifically the updated NDC and NAP‑CC.
However, the degree of gender mainstreaming in
these policies is yet to meet expectations.
• GenderequalityintheNationalHydrometeoro-
logical and Disaster Prevention Policies
The National Strategy for Hydrometeorological
Development until 2020 was implemented from
2010. However, hydrometeorological information
that is gender responsive and inclusive has
not been incorporated in any content of the
Strategy. Likewise, the National Strategy for
Hydrometeorological Development for the
period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045, issued in
November 2021, is gender blind.
The National Strategy for Natural Disaster
Prevention and Control until 2020 and its
Implementation Plan are similarly gender blind.
However, in the Framework for Monitoring and
Evaluation of the Implementation of the National
Strategy for Natural Disaster Prevention and
Control to 2020 (2013), Objective No. 6 addresses
gender in Sub-Objectives 6.6 and 6.7, identifying
women as a vulnerable group. Worryingly, the
National Strategy for Natural Disaster Prevention
and Control for the period 2021-2030, with
vision to 2050, is also severely lacking gender
responsiveness, as gender equality and factors are
not mentioned in the entire text of the Strategy.
• Gender equality in climate change response
policies of some ministries and sectors
The Agriculture and Rural Development Sector
has issued an Action Plan to respond to climate
change for the period 2016-2020, with a vision
to 2050 and the Plan to Implement the Paris
Agreement (PA) on Climate Change for the period
of 2021-2030. Integrating gender, ensuring gender
equality, improving social security, and diversifying
livelihoods for women in vulnerable areas due to
climate change impacts are all reflected in the
viewpoints and list of tasks in the document.
By contrast, the Sector’s PA Implementation
Plan does not propound any content on gender
responsiveness. For other sectors, gender equality
has been completely omitted from the Climate
Change Action Plan and the implementation plans
of the PA of the Ministry of Natural Resources
and Environment (MONRE), Ministry of Transport
(MOT) and Ministry of Construction (MOC). The
Health Sector’s Climate Change Action Plan for the
period 2019-2030 and vision to 2050 integrates
certain gender content, nevertheless it is very
vague and limited. There is only one out of 38
tasks in the list of priority tasks related to gender
and women.
In the Implementation Plan of the PA of the
Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs for
the period 2019-2020 and 2021-2030, women are

7. referred to as a vulnerable group. Gender equality
has not been identified as a cross-cutting topic, so
the element of “women” is only mentioned in two
activities. Meanwhile, the Action Plan for disaster
prevention and climate change adaptation of the
Vietnam Women’s Union in the period 2017-2022
tends to focus on activities to raise awareness
and knowledge. Specific models and actions for
livelihood development, production, business and
energy consumption are still extremely limited.
Moreover, the policy only brings into focus
aspects of adaptation from the perspective of
disaster prevention, and does not encompass the
full perspective of climate change response, which
also includes mitigation.
In general, the fact that climate change-related
policies show a lack of gender responsiveness or
complete blindness, appears to be systemic and
widespread, especially in the relevant policies
developed before 2020. Even many policies
formulated in the ensuing period tend to lack
gender responsiveness. Moreover, in most policy
viewpoints and solutions, women are still seen as
a vulnerable and passive group, rather than being
recognised as agents of change and/or as part of
the climate change response effort.
3.2. Climate change in the gender equality
policies of Viet Nam
The Gender Equality Law (2006) regulates
gender equality in specific sectors from Articles
11 to 18; however, the fields of climate change
response and disaster prevention are not
mentioned. This systemic marginalization could be
the starting point of the fact that ​​
environmental
protection and climate change are overlooked
in the National Strategies on GE for the period
2011-2020 and 2021-2030. In particular, there is
no environmental protection and climate change
content integrated in these two policies. Similarly,
the National Gender Development Statistical
Indicators Set does not include any mention of
environmental protection and climate change.
In general, the omission of climate change and
disaster prevention from the GE policy seems to
not be random but rather institutionalized and
systematic given that neither the Gender Equality
Law, any of its sub-laws nor national policies
mention these fields.
3.3. Gender and climate change in the nati-
onal policy for Socio-economic development,
Green Growth, and Sustainable Development
of Vietnam
• Gender equality and climate change in specific
socio-economic development policies
Currently, Vietnam has two socio-economic
development programmes with very wide
coverage, namely the National Target Programme
for New Rural Development and the National
Programme for Sustainable Poverty Reduction.
However, gender equality and climate change are
neitherreflectedinspecificobjectivesnorincluded
in the solutions and mechanisms for programme
management and administration. Another policy,
the Investment Policy on Target Programmes for
the period 2016 - 2020 encompasses twenty-one
programmes, of which five are closely related to
the impacts of climate change and one has a direct
focus on climate change (Programme No. XIV,
Target Programme to Respond to Climate Change
andGreenGrowth).Noneofthemmentiongender.
One out of 21 Programmes of the policy refers to
gender in its overall goals, but not in its specific
goals and implementation solutions.
• Gender equality in the National Policy on
Green Growth
The National Green Growth Strategy for the
period 2011-2020 is not gender responsive. The
entire content of the Strategy does not contain
any words about gender equality, women or
men. Consequently, the National Green Growth
Action Plan for the period 2014 - 2020 also omits
gender-responsive solutions. The National Green
Growth Strategy for the period 2021-2030, with a
vision to 2050, is likely to imply gender responsive-
ness by specifying the assurance of equal access
to opportunities and the achievements of growth
whilst emphasizing the goals of equality and inclu-
siveness. In the indicators defined for each goal,
gender responsiveness has not been considered,
but women are addressed independently in two
specific cross-cutting solutions.
• Gender equality and climate change in the
National Policy on Sustainable Development
7

8. 8
The Vietnam Sustainable Development
Strategy for the period 2011-2020 does not
consider gender equality in any of its content.
However, in the road map for the implementation
of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
both gender equality and climate change have
been comprehensively considered in Goal
No. 5 on achieving gender equality: Women’s
empowerment and creating opportunities for
women and girls, and in Goal No. 13 on responding
promptly and effectively to climate change and
natural disasters. Beyond that, gender equality is
also reflected in many other goals, such as those
relating to poverty reduction, education, health,
equity, and equality.
3.4. Institutional arrangement in gender
equality and climate change response
Currently,Vietnamhasbothstatemanagement
agencies and inter-ministerial and sectoral
coordination mechanisms for gender equality and
climate change. The state management function
on gender equality belongs to the Gender Equality
Department, MOLISA. From an interdisciplinary
perspective, there is the National Committee for
the Advancement of Women, with twenty-one
members, chaired by the Minister of Labour,
Invalids and Social Affairs. The Committee’s
membership is composed of the Deputy Ministers
of most ministries, branches, and socio-political
organizations, but there is no representative
from the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment. The underrepresentation of many
relevant ministries, sectors and agencies is an
obstacle to promoting gender mainstreaming of
policies in a uniform and consistent manner.
The Department of Climate Change, which
is subsumed under the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment, is charged with
performing twenty-two tasks, state management
functions on climate change, and to perform the
duties of the Office of the National Commission on
Climate Change. Higher up, there is the National
Committee on Climate Change, an inter-ministerial
and sectoral coordination mechanism directed
by the Government. At the provincial level, the
State Management Agency for Climate Change
is under the Department of Natural Resources
and Environment. In addition, there is a National
Steering Committee for Disaster Prevention and
Control, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development is the standing body of the Steering
Committee. The Viet Nam Disaster Management
Authority, under the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development, is the national state
management agency for disaster prevention.
4. SECTION 4: LIMITATIONS, CHALLENGES
AND OPPORTUNITIES OF GENDER INTE-
GRATION INTO THE DEVELOPMENT AND
IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES TO RES-
POND TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN VIET NAM
4.1. Limitations of and barriers to gender
mainstreaming in the implementation, moni-
toring, and evaluation of the Climate Change
Strategy for the period of 2011-2020
• A lack of consistency and synchronization
on both gender equality and climate change
issues in institutions and policies: The
Gender Equality Law stipulates that gender
equality must be included in the drafting
and enforcement of laws. However, the Law
does not address environmental protection
and climate change. By contrast, gender
equality has been incorporated into the policy
system on environmental protection and
climate change. However, the connectivity
and consistency of the policies are weak.
Moreover, even within an individual, climate
change policy, consistency and clarity of
gender equality matters is not present.
• The inter-sectoral and inter-level coordination
mechanism among relevant agencies is
not strong enough: The Policy Drafting
Group on Gender Equality does not have
a representative from the climate change
management agency, and vice versa. The
Climate Change Policy drafting team lacks an
agency representative on gender equality. The
state management agency on gender equality
and the Women’s Union plays quite weak roles
in formulating and implementing policies on
climate change.
• Stereotyping in the development and
implementation of climate change policies of
ministries, sectors, and localities: The Action

9. Plan to Respond to Climate Change is based
on tasks and solutions in the National Climate
Change Strategy. According to this principle,
when gender equality is not specified in the
Strategy, it will not be then included in the
Action Plan. Consequently, when ministries,
sectors and localities develop their action
plans for related sectors and regions on the
basis of national action plan, they will most
likely ignore gender-responsive requirements.
• Insufficient awareness of the importance of
gender mainstreaming in legal documents and
policies on climate change: In Vietnam, the
formulation of climate change and disaster
prevention policies is often assigned to state
management agencies in their respective
areas. As a result, policy content often
solely focuses on the disciplines within their
remit, to the exclusion of interdisciplinary
considerations, such as gender equality.
When the Policy Drafting Team only consists
of members with in-depth knowledge of
the environment, climate change or disaster
prevention, they will focus on their technical
factors Therefore, gender needs remain
unidentified and ignored.
• In-depth guidance on integrating gender
equality into climate change policy
development has not been properly developed:
Comprehensive and in-depth guidelines on
gender mainstreaming in climate change
policy development and implementation
have not been developed. Both topics are
considered “difficult and new” for most
industries, sectors, and localities.
• Human resources for gender equality and
climate change are inadequate: Except within
specialized agencies such as the Department
of Climate Change (MONRE) and Department
of Gender Equality (MOLISA), the number of
staff working on gender equality and climate
change in ministries, sectors and localities
is still low. Furthermore, employees lack
the requisite knowledge, experience and
organizational skills to effectively implement
tasks in these fields.
• Financing for Gender-responsiveness and
climate change are not carefully considered:
Resources for the implementation of the
National Climate Change Strategy and Gender
Strategy are limited, since both topics are seen
as mainstreaming instead of being the key
principles.
• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of both
National Climate Change Strategy and Gender
Strategy have not been focused at any level:
An overall M&E framework for the Strategies
was not developed from their inception, hence
data collection and updating information on
the performance of their implementations are
inadequate. Due to the lack of sufficient and
reliable data and evidence on gender equality
issues, Viet Nam still faces challenges around
gender equality in institutional and policy
frameworks and particularly in its climate
change policies.
4.2. Causes of limitations on gender
mainstreaming in the development,
implementation, monitoring, and assessment
of the National Climate Change Strategy for
the period 2011 - 2020
• Gender mainstreaming is not a prioritised
aspect of the state management agency
responsible for climate change: Climate
change has comprehensive impacts on all
sectors which occur widely across regions
and localities. While national resources for
climate change response are limited, the State
Management Agency for Climate Change must
make decisions on priorities to ensure focus
and develop appropriate solutions.
• The awareness of gender and climate change
topics of leaders and officials at all levels is
still limited: A significant number of leaders
and officials are not aware of the importance
of gender equality promotion, resulting in the
mainstreaming of gender and climate change
in a superficial way. There is lack of initiative
and coordination among agencies, sectors,
and levels.
• There is inadequate representation of the
state management agency on gender equality
and civil society organizations representing
9

10. 10
women in the composition of climate change
policy formulation groups: This dearth of
representation will make policy designs
for climate change response focus purely
on technical content thereby overlooking
coverage of gender equality and social
aspects. This, despite the requirement that all
policy solutions must aim to put people front
and center and ensure the harmonization
of economic, social and environmental
development.
• There is a lack of guidance and technical
support for mainstreaming gender equality
into climate change policies and vice versa:
Agencies and organizations in the field of
climate change lack knowledge and skills to
mainstream gender equality. Agencies, and
organizations in the field of gender equal-
ity similarly lack knowledge and skills around
climate change mainstreaming. The lack of
regular interaction and close coordination
between the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and
Social Affairs (?), the environmental sector and
the Women’s Union in supporting each other
as well as supporting other sectors is also a
significant issue.
• The mechanisms to monitor and evaluate
the implementation of both the National
Strategies on Gender Equality and Climate
Change are not strong enough: The framework
for monitoring and evaluation of programs
and plans has not been fully developed,
hence there are no appropriate sanctions for
underperformance/unmet targets. There are
no systems of reward and penalty encourage
and support the implementation of the targets
of the strategies.
• Specialist staff in climate change at the local
level is low in number and inadequately
trained: Human resources for climate change
are inadequate and must be mobilised
from many different sectors, hence the
implementation of climate change actions
alone has been a challenge, even without
gender mainstreaming.
• Limited financial resources and no separate
budget line: Budgets for direct investment
in gender equality, and climate change
programmes and projects are limited, since
Viet Nam does not have a gender-responsive
financial mechanism, nor a green budget.
As gender equality and climate change are
seen as integrated factors, it is difficult to
determine their respective expenditures in
budget estimations.
4.3. Challenges and opportunity for gender
mainstreaming in the National Climate Change
Strategy 2021-2030, vision to 2050.
4.3.1. . Challenges
• Challenge No.1: Lack of information and data
as evidence for the development of gender-
responsive targets, tasks, and solutions: To
date, empirical studies on gender and climate
change in Vietnam are extremely limited.
They are only associated with a few specific
projects, on a small scale and in a certain field
or sub-sector. This does not provide adequate
data for policy formulation at the national
level.
• Challenge No.2: Promotion of gender equal-
ity is not yet a priority of state management
agencies on climate change, as with other
key sectors, and ministries: Mainstreaming
gender equality is not mandatory and often
not on the priority list of ministries, except
for the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social
Affairs. It is considered burdensome to the
implementation and monitoring of tasks, and
is subsequently omitted.
• Challenge No.3: Gender equality is not a
legally binding requirement for a number of
key areas in responding to climate change:
The Law of Gender equality and the Law of
Promulgation of Legal Documents require the
integration of gender equality in the develop-
ment of legal documents, but this is still taken
to be optional. The Law of Gender equality
does not address the areas of environment
and climate change. The Law on Promulgation
of Legal Documents mandates gender impact
assessments and mainstreaming of gender
equality, however according to current regula-
tions, the Climate Change Response Strategy
issued by the Prime Minister is not considered
a legal document.

11. 11
• Challenge No.4: Capacity for gender
mainstreaming is insufficient: Most ministries
and sectors lack the necessary awareness,
knowledge, skills, and appropriate attitudes
towards gender mainstreaming. Additionally,
there are no comprehensive guidelines on
gender integration in each field, impacting the
capacity to respond to climate change through
a gendered lens.
• Challenge No.5: Gender mainstreaming in
the targets and solutions for climate change
impact mitigation in the NCCS is difficult: the
targets of all mitigation measures determine
specific emission reduction rates under
different options, so gender integration is not
feasible.
• Challenge No.6: The budget for gender
responsiveness and response to climate
change has not been created: While financing
for climate change does not meet the needs
to implement priority tasks, and gender
mainstreaming is not yet mandatory, gender
equality will be ignored in climate change
policies. The same can happen with climate
change mainstreaming in gender policies.
• Challenge No.7: Implementing a gender-
responsive M&E system requires substantial
effort: Technically, it is possible to develop a
set of monitoring and evaluation tools, but
its actual undertaking remains a challenge. It
involves the mobilisation of both human and
financial resources.
• Challenge No.8: Lack of voices of men and
women at grassroots level in the Strategy
formulation process: In principle, all citizens
have the right to contribute their opinions in
the strategy formulation. However, the current
consultation process does not always facilitate
grassroots level input, from those who are
directly affected by climate change.
4.3.2. Opportunities
• Opportunity 1: Integrating gender equality has
gained the attention of the state management
agencies on climate change: Although not
considered a major priority, gender equality
has been acknowledged as a necessary
consideration in the development of policies
to respond to climate change for the period of
2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.
• Opportunity 2: Climate change is proven to be
gender sensitive: Studies by UNFCCC, UNDP,
UN WOMEN, GIZ, and various organizations
have all demonstrated that climate change in
Vietnam is gender sensitive.
• Opportunity 3: There is a legal basis for and
political commitment to mandate the inclusion
of gender equality into climate change policies:
The Law on Environmental Protection, Law
on Disaster Prevention and Control, Law on
Hydrometeorology all prescribe the inclusion
of principles of gender equality in the policy
development of these fields. Furthermore,
Vietnam has also joined international com-
mitments to respond to climate change and
the SENDAI Framework of Action on disaster
risk reduction. In addition, the CEDAW recom-
mendation also requires that relevant parties
meet the requirements of gender equality
and women’s empowerment in responding to
climate change.
• Opportunity 4: Gender equality draws
increasing attention: Several ministries,
sectors and organizations have developed
action plans on gender equality promotion
for the period 2016 - 2020 and annual gender
equality implementation plan. Most localities
have developed plans to promote gender
equality and the advancement of women.
• Opportunity 5: There is support from
international organizations to strengthen
the mainstreaming of gender equality
into policies: In recent years, multilateral
and bilateral international organizations
have coordinated with the Department of
Climate Change to develop and implement
cooperation programmes to enhance gender
mainstreaming in legal documents and climate
change response policies.
5. SECTION 5: RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Recommendations to strengthen insti-

12. 12
tutions and policies to improve the state
management of gender mainstreaming in
climate change response.
• To improve legal documents, gender
equality policies to meet the requirements
of responding to climate change: The Law
on Gender Equality, currently being revised
presents a good opportunity. The compelling
reason to include climate change in gender
policies is that climate change and disaster
risk reduction are included in CEDAW General
recommendation No. 37 (2018).
• To ensure consistency and synchronisation
between policies and integration in each
climate change policy: Climate change policies
are integrated with gender equality content
and the gender equality policies must also
integrate climate change content. This ensures
consistency and enables a more tangible
gender-disaggregated M&E mechanism.
• To determine that gender mainstreaming is not
an option but a mandatory requirement in the
formulation, implementation, and monitoring
of policies in general and climate change
policies in particular: Raising awareness about
gender mainstreaming in policies is important.
It should be a mandatory requirement,
under the provisions of law and international
commitments, instead of being considered an
“emergent or additional task”.
• To strengthen the coordination systems in
development, implementation and monitor-
ing among ministries, sectors, and localities:
The appraisal agency for legal documents is
responsible for coordinating with the state
management agencies in charge of gender
equality to assess the integration of gender in
the development of legal documents. In addi-
tion, in-depth consultations with the Women’s
Union and ministries, branches and localities
are also especially important to integrate gen-
der equality in each sector and field.
• Strengthening the structure of the National
Committee on Climate Change and the
National Committee for the Advancement
of Women: The National Committee on
Climate Change lacks representation from
both the MOLISA and the Vietnam Women’s
Union, while the National Committee for the
Advancement of Women lacks representatives
from the Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment. In stakeholders this gives
the idea that the sector is not important or
relevant to the area they manage. Therefore,
the National Committee on Climate Change
needs to have representatives from both the
Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs
as well as the Vietnam Women’s Union.
• To set up focal points for gender equality and
climate change: When roles and responsibili-
ties are assigned to a specific position, the re-
sponsible individual will be obliged to oversee
the assigned tasks, and therefore will provide
timely advice for leaders to make decisions.
• Support the representation of gender and so-
cial experts in the climate change policy-mak-
ing team: Strengthen the supporting role of
the Department of Gender Equality (MOLISA),
the Women’s Union, as well as encourage the
participation of gender experts and society in
the committee for policy drafting on climate
change, and vice versa- experts on climate
change in formulating gender equality policies.
• Increasing knowledge and awareness of of-
ficials at all levels about gender equality and
climate change: Once they are equipped with
sufficient information awareness of the topics,
they can better advise leaders at all levels.
Additionally, they will be able to contribute
better informed, specific and relevant input at
meetings and consultations on climate change
and gender.
• Develop guidelines and technical support for
gender mainstreaming in climate change poli-
cies and vice versa: Develop and promote the
application of technical guidelines on gender
mainstreaming to climate change policies and
mainstream climate change into the policy of
gender equality.
• Establish a monitoring and evaluation system
for gender responsive climate change strat-
egy: Develop and operate a comprehensive

13. M&E system on gender-responsive climate
change response with specific metrics. Include
a mechanism for collecting and updating data,
disclosure and sharing of information.
• Develop an inclusive green budget: Develop
a budget line that meets the requirements of
environmental protection and the response to
climate change that is accountable for solving
social problems, including addressing gender
inequality.
5.2. Recommendations on priorities and
solutions to mainstream gender in the deve-
lopment and implementation of the National
Climate Change Strategy 2021-2030, with a
vision to 2050
5.2.1. Legal basis and technical requirements
• Requirements for gender consideration and
mainstreaming under the UNFCCC and the
Paris Agreement: The UNFCC framework
recognizes gender equality and women’s
participation as being important for climate
action across all dimensions. The Paris
Agreement states that adaptation should
follow a gender responsive approach. The Paris
Rules Book requires that the development of
adaptation and mitigation actions, capacity
building, science, technology, and gender-
responsive climate financing mechanisms be
developed and must be gender-responsive.
• Requirements for mainstreaming DRR and cli-
mate change response in CEDAW: In 2018 the
CEDAW Committee gave its recommendations
for gender-related aspects of DRR and CC. The
recommendations emphasize that women’s
human rights be promoted and protected by
CEDAW in all stages of climate change and
disaster prevention, mitigation, response,
recovery and adaptation. Member States are
responsible for taking effective measures to
prevent, mitigate and respond to disasters and
climate change, and to ensure the rights of
women and girls.
• Climate change policies for the period 2021-
2030, vision to 2050, and Vietnam’s Implemen-
tation Plan 2030 for Sustainable Development
Implementation Plan: updated NDC and NAP-
CC were issued in 2020. All these policies focus
on mitigating GHG emissions, enhancing adap-
tive capacity and strengthening state manage-
ment and science and technology in response
to climate change. In addition, timely and ef-
fective response to climate change and natural
disaster is a goal of Vietnam’s 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development.
• Gender equality in policy formulation needs
to be approached according to four core ele-
ments, including: (i) Gender roles, (ii) Control
of and access to resources, (iii) Access to
information, knowledge, science and technol-
ogy, and (4) Participation and decision-making
power. Gender needs are embraced across
these four categories. Along with that, other
technical aspects need to be considered in
policy development, including suitability,
practicality and feasibility, coherence, consist-
ency, and synchronization, transparency and
measurability.
5.2.2. Recommendations of priorities and so-
lutions for gender mainstreaming in the
National Climate Change Strategy for the
Period of 2021-2030, vision to 2050.
• Priority No.1. Ensure the gender responsive-
ness is reflected throughout the Strategy
- Solutions for Priority No.1: Gender equality
is reflected in the viewpoints, objectives,
tasks and solutions and implementation.
• Priority No.2. Focus on gender mainstreaming
in the adaptation component of the Strategy
and add gender mainstreaming to the mitiga-
tion component in the Climate Change Action
Plan of the same period.
- Solution 2. Develop feasible and
appropriate gender-responsive targets in
adaptation goals, including in both groups
of targets on strengthening resilience
and improving adaptive capacity and
reducing damage. Under mitigation
solutions, it is recommended to consider
developing stand-alone gender-responsive
tasks and solutions to serve as a basis for
mainstreaming gender into the climate
change action plan in the same period.
13

14. 14
• Priority No.3. Focus on selected areas and
consider mainstreaming appropriate gender
content in each area.
- Solution 3. Integrating gender into tasks
and solutions in the fields of agriculture,
land use, forest management and
development, water supply and irrigation,
health and medical care, disaster risk
management, planning, investment,
relocation, rearrangement of residential
areas, construction and upgrading of
essential infrastructure; renewable energy
development and waste management.
• Priority No.4. Institutionalizing the role of
agencies in charge of gender equality.
- Solution 4. Identify and clarify the
roles and responsibilities of the state
management agencies in charge of gender
equality in providing technical assistance
and monitoring the implementation
of the Strategy, particularly for gender
mainstreamed objectives and tasks.
• Priority No.5. Align with key requirements of
UNFCC
- Solution 5. Specifying indicators of
women’s participation and decision-
making, percentage of women in science
and technology training and research and
gender-responsive finance.
5.2.3. Technical recommendations for gender
mainstreaming in the viewpoints, objec-
tives, tasks and solutions of the National
Climate Change Strategy for the Period of
2021-2030, vision to 2050
Two out of points under the viewpoints can be
improved towards gender responsiveness; under
the following objectives: Gender can be integrated
into the specific target of the adaptation
component, and three gender-responsive
indicators can be developed. The mitigation
component can incorporate a gender perspective
into the general task. Gender mainstreaming can
be integrated in three tasks of the adaptation
component, in one task of the mitigation
component and in eight tasks of the component
to improve the effectiveness of state management
(Specific proposals are found in Annexes 2a and
2b).
5.2.4. Proposal for a framework and indicators
for gender-responsive M&E of the National
Climate Change Strategy 2021-2030, with a
vision to 2050.
The gender-responsive M&E framework will
cover the entire Strategy but focus on groups of
tasks and solutions because they are manifested
by specific actions. It is recommended to use
a combination of process-based and results-
based metrics. Process-based indicators measure
progress, through a sequence of intermediate
outcomes, leading to a long-term outcome.
Outcome-based indicators measure the target of
individual interventions, including input, output
indicators, output, outcome indicators and
impact indicators. Regardless of how gender-
responsive M&E indicators are designed, it is still
necessary to identify priority indicators to ensure
practicality and feasibility (both from technical
and financial perspectives), the requirement
threshold, reliability of data, and the ability to
collect and update information in practice. Based
on the structure of the Strategy, the proposed
set of gender-responsive M&E indicators totals
fifty-five. They cover most of the strategy’s tasks
and solutions, including the most relevant fields
and cross-cutting issues such as institutional
strengthening and participation, capacity building,
and research and development.

15. PHẦN 1.
KHOẢNG TRỐNG GIỚI VÀ BIẾN ĐỔI
KHÍ HẬU TRONG CÁC CHÍNH SÁCH
QUỐC GIA LIÊN QUAN
15

16. IMPRINTS
Published by
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Registered Office
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Mekong Delta Climate Resilient Programme (MCRP)
Room K1A, CoCoInter No.14 Thuy Khue, Tay Ho,
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T +84 24 372 864 72
E mcrp@giz.de
I https://mcrp.mard.gov.vn
As at
May 2022
Photo
©GIZ & UN Women
Text by
Phan Nguy Truong
With contributions from
Pham Van Tan, TS. Chu Thi Thanh Huong (Department of Climate Change)
Professor Tran Thuc
Hoang Thanh Ha, Pham Thi Hong Net (GIZ)
Tran Thi Thuy Anh (UN Women)
GIZ is responsible for this publication
On behalf of
German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)