Hagar Vietnam

Vietnam has been a leader in the region with impressively high gender equity indicators. Vietnam has one of the highest rates of economic participation in the world with 83% of women engaging in economic activities.

But despite economic participation and gender equality advancements in Vietnam, many women continue to face obstacles in their country. There are strong family traditions of the role and responsibility of the woman. Women face serious social stigma for being an unwed mother, which could explain why Vietnam has one of the highest abortion rates in the world with 40% of pregnancies being terminated.

Cross- Border Trafficking is a major issue in Vietnam. It is believe that as many as 400,000 women and children have been trafficked internationally since 1990, about 10% of trafficked women and children worldwide.

Population	85.2 million
Age structure	The majority of the population (68.6%) are aged 15 – 64 years
Life expectancy	71.3 years
Unemployment	5.3%
Poverty	Within the past 15 years, poverty rates have been declining, from 58% in 1992-93 to 37% in 1997-98 to 19.5% in 2006. In 2007, 14.8% of the population was below the poverty line