The above information was shared at the World Population Day Rally (11.7) organized by the Ministry of Health this morning.
Mr. Matt Jackson - Chief Representative of UNFPA in Vietnam - acknowledged Vietnam's efforts in ensuring reproductive self-determination for all people and emphasized that sustainable development cannot be achieved without reproductive self-determination.
UNFPA reaffirms its commitment to accompany the Vietnamese Government in the process of building a new Population Law and implementing the National Target Program on Health Care, Population and Development for the period 2026-2035, said Mr. Matt Jackson.
Mr. Matt Jackson said that the United Nations Population Fund's 2025 population situation report, through a survey of 14 countries around the world, shows that 1 in 5 people cannot have the desired number of children; more than half of the surveyed people believe that economic factors are the main barrier to parenting; 1 in 3 people have had unwanted pregnancy; and over 40% of people over 50 years old said that they do not achieve the desired family size.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan emphasized that the 2025 amended Population Ordinance has just been passed. In particular, the right to self-determination of reproduction of individuals and couples is respected, in accordance with health, conditions and is completely voluntary. This also demonstrates the spirit of the message of this year's World Population Day: "Self-determination of reproduction in a changing world".
According to the Minister, Vietnam always cares about and identifies population as the top important factor in the cause of national construction and defense. Vietnamese law stipulates: each couple and individual has the right to decide on the time to give birth, the number of children and the distance between births appropriate to the age, health status, learning conditions, work, income and raising children of the couple and individual on the basis of equality. This regulation is a key content in giving women the right to self-determination of reproduction.
The Minister affirmed that the Ministry of Health is actively focusing on building the Population Law and the National Target Program on Health Care, Population and Development for the period 2026-2035, with the goal of ensuring social security, health and equality for the people, based on the principle of taking people as the center, as the goal of sustainable development of the country.
The head of the health sector suggested that ministries, branches, and People's Committees of provinces and cities continue to pay attention to leadership and allocating budgets for population work, especially in the context of changing two-level local governance; actively coordinate in the process of building the Population Law and the upcoming National Target Program.
At the rally, Ms. Pauline Fatima Tamesis, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, said: The United Nations in Vietnam is committed to continuing to cooperate closely with the Government in ensuring access to quality reproductive health services; supporting the promotion of comprehensive population policies; expanding comprehensive gender education appropriate to age and health services for young people; enhancing the data system to better serve the work of planning and investment.
