1st International Conference on Women and Leadership in Vietnam May 8, 2015

Banking University, 36 Ton That Dam Street, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Invitation This international conference launches a new series of dialogue on Women and Leadership in Vietnam, hosted by the Global Engagement Institute in partnership with the Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City and Hoa Sen University. Representatives of key Vietnamese stakeholders and other interested individuals are invited to join a visiting delegation of international GEI ambassadors to explore some of the most pressing issues concerning the role of women in politics, business and society in Vietnam today. High-level keynote speakers include:

Prof. Shirley Randell AO, PhD, Hon.DLitt is a renowned expert in gender mainstreaming, education, public sector and institutional reform in developing countries. A former Vice President of the International Federation of University Women, she received, among many others, Australia’s 100 Inaugural Women of Influence award (2012) and the International Alliance of Women’s 100 World of Difference award (2013). She was the founder and first director of the Center for Gender, Culture & Development at the University of Rwanda’s College of Arts and Social Sciences, and today works in Bangladesh at the Ministry of Education on Teaching Quality Improvement for Secondary Schools.

Madame Ton Nu Thi Ninh served her country as Ambassador and Head of Mission to the European Union in Brussels, then as Vice-Chair of the 11th National Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, and now as the Head of Tri Viet Center for Social and Educational Research. She is the recipient of the Vietnamese Labour Order, First Class, the Belgian Order of Leopold II and, recently, the French Legion d'Honneur (Officier). On the social front, she places a special interest on gender and post-war legacy issues, such as the impact of Agent Orange/dioxin in Vietnam. She also established the Global Vietnamese Women's Network.

Program 08:30 Registration 08:50 Official opening 09:00 Session 1: Opportunities and challenges for women’s associations in Vietnam

- Keynote speaker: Madame Ton Nu Thi Ninh - Short presentations: Various international GEI ambassadors

10:30 Coffee break 11:00 Session 2: Gender mainstreaming in national development plans and policies

- Keynote speaker: Prof. Shirley Randell - Presentation: Dr. Huynh Thi Ngoc Tuyet (Southern Institute of Social Sciences)

12:30 Lunch break 14:00 Session 3: Current academic research on the socioeconomic empowerment of women

- Hoa Sen University: Intellectual women and the retirement age in Vietnam - Banking University: Rural financial markets & Empowering women through microfinance

15:30 Closing remarks and networking cocktail