Unlocking women’s potential and aspiration to contribute

Accounting for more than 50% of the population, women not only play a vital role in building and preserving family happiness, but are also an important source of labour, creativity, and contributions to the community. Therefore, unlocking the women's potential and their aspiration to contribute not only opens up opportunities for each individual to develop comprehensively but also creates momentum for social progress.

Following the 13th National Women’s Congress for the 2022 - 2027 tenure, the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) Central Committee launched the emulation movement “Building Vietnamese Women in the New Era” (hereinafter referred to as the emulation movement). Women's union chapters have implemented the movement at all levels across Dong Nai province and achieved positive results, helping unlock the women's potential and aspirations to contribute to local development.

Bringing the movement to every member

The emulation movement is built on four criteria: knowledge, ethics, good health, and a strong sense of responsibility toward oneself, one’s family, society, and the country.

Officials of the Dong Xoai Ward Women’s Union visit a booth showcasing start-up products by women members and local women on the sidelines of the 1st Dong Nai Provincial Women’s Congress for the 2025–2030 term. Photo: Nga Son

According to Bui Thi Hanh, Vice President of the Dong Nai Provincial Women’s Union and Head of the provincial Women’s Affairs Committee, to ensure the movement reaches every union member and woman, during the 2021–2025 period, the provincial women’s union aligned its implementation with annual work themes, three key tasks and two breakthrough measures, while also linking it with the movement of “Women speaking kind words, doing good deeds”. In particular, the provincial women's union strengthened communication about the movement through a range of communication products on online platforms. It delivered movement-related content via online conferences and training courses. At the same time, each criterion of the movement has been translated into practical models and activities closely aligned with the realities, needs, and aspirations of women members.

For example, the “knowledge” criterion has been promoted through training courses, online contests, conferences, and forums, as well as through the implementation of projects on communication, education, advocacy, and support for women to participate in addressing social issues related to women, along with the project on supporting women's start-ups. The “ethics” criterion has been carried out through communication activities, contests, various models, the “Godmother Programme", as well as social welfare work, humanitarian charity, and support for the armed forces' rear.

Efforts to fulfil the " good health” criterion have gone beyond calls for action and have been demonstrated through regular sports and fitness clubs, competitions, mass performances, and consistently maintained health care activities. Regarding the “responsibility” criterion, women’s union chapters at all levels have integrated it into the campaign on building “5 no’s, 3 clean” households and “5 have’s, 3 clean” households; the “effective mass mobilisation” model on sorting solid waste that can be reused and recycled at source; and other community-oriented activities.

Through these practical approaches, the movement has spread widely across social life, encouraging women members to study and proactively improve their knowledge and skills; cultivate ethical qualities; preserve and promote traditional cultural values; and actively participate in community activities, thereby contributing to the effective implementation of local socio-economic development goals.

…and ensuring deeper impact

Vice President of the Dong Nai Provincial Women’s Union Bui Thi Hanh noted that, amid digital transformation and international integration, women have opportunities to study, access knowledge, employment and start-up support, increase their incomes, and affirm their roles both within the family and in society. However, this process also presents many challenges, requiring the women to adapt quickly while maintaining their identity and traditional values. To achieve this, the women need to continuously train and develop new qualities and capacities to keep pace with the era's development trends.

The Resolution of the 1st Dong Nai Provincial Women’s Congress for the 2025–2030 term identifies that, during the term, the movement will be implemented in association with the campaign of “Dong Nai women speaking kind words, doing good deeds”, with a view to concretising the core qualities of Vietnamese women in the new era as oriented by Party General Secretary To Lam: Patriotic – Self-reliant – Resilient – Compassionate – Intelligent – Creative – Responsible – Digital – Green. These qualities will be combined with the movement’s “four criteria” promoted by the VWU Central Committee and the traditional virtues of Vietnamese women, thereby creating a vibrant emulation atmosphere across all levels of the women's union and fostering pride in Vietnamese women's fine traditions.

Sharing experience in implementing the movement at the 1st Dong Nai Provincial Women’s Congress held in November 2025, Nguyen Thi Hong Phuong, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the ward, and President of the Tran Bien Ward Women’s Union, said that to help women members fully understand and effectively implement the movement’s four criteria, the ward women’s union integrated the content with local campaigns and movements, communicated the criteria through social media, and directed sub-branches and groups to develop appropriate activities tailored to different groups of women.

To achieve these goals, Bui Thi Hanh stressed that women's union chapters at all levels need to step up communication and education efforts, raising awareness among officials, members, and women about the significance and objectives of the movement in the current period. They should continue to encourage women to promote patriotism and national pride, harmoniously combining traditional values with the values of the modern era, while proactively studying and improving their overall capacity and qualifications. At the same time, the application of digital technology in women’s union work should be strengthened, working methods should be renewed, and greater attention should be paid to training and improving information technology skills among women's union officials. This is essential to building a contingent of women's union officials who are resilient, professional, dynamic, and creative, capable of meeting the requirements of the period of digital transformation and international integration.

By Nga Son – Translated by My Le, Thu Ha