Final Report An Independent Gender Review and Impact Assessment of the National Target Programme on New Rural Development for the period of 2010-2020

The National Target Programme on New Rural Development has undergone two phases, between 2010-2015 and 2016-2020.

This 10-year implementation of the National Target Programme on New Rural Development has resulted in significant improvements in the socio-economic development of rural Vietnam. By the end of 2020, 62.4% of rural communes met the New Rural Development standard; the average attainment of the NRD criteria was 16.4 out of a total of 19 criteria. Despite such remarkable improvements, there are still sizable gender gaps in terms of employment, property ownership, and access to public services in rural areas, especially in poor districts and communes. The burden of unpaid care work hinders equal access for women to opportunities; gender-based violence remains high at places.

In this context, UN Women has provided technical assistance for the Viet Nam Women’s Union to conduct an independent assessment to examine to what extent women’s empowerment and gender equality have been implemented in the National Target Programme on New Rural Development. Based on this assessment, the report makes recommendations for gender mainstreaming in the National Target Programme on New Rural Development 2021-2025.