In 2023, USAID unveiled its Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy, informed by  extensive groundwork, global research, and legislative strides. This policy outlines USAID’s vision to promote gender equality worldwide, setting strategic goals and principles to guide investments across operations and programs. USAID underscores the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment for human rights and sustainable development. To fulfill this ambitious vision, the USAID Partnership for Higher Education Reform project (PHER) integrates gender equality and women’s empowerment as critical cross-cutting strategies for the project’s success, and to support sustainability of PHER results.

On May 7th, 2024, the USAID PHER project provided technical support to the University of Danang on the topic Gender equality and Women’s empowerment in Education and Research. In his opening speech, Associate Professor Le Quang Son, Vice President of the University of Danang highlighted the importance of gender equality and empowering women in education and research, stressing it as “the power to change people’s lives and build the future of humanity.” The event attracted approximately 70 delegates, including leadership representatives and numerous faculty members and staff with keen interest. These leadership representatives represent various units, such as the Women’s Progress Committee, the Party Committee Office, the Women’s Union, the Trade Union, member university representatives, and affiliated departments, along with leaders from relevant departments such as the ODA Project Management, Science, and International Cooperation.

The project expert, Associate Professor Nguyen Thi Van – Vice Rector of the University of Labor and Social Affairs, shared her expertise and provided guidance on applying the Sex & Gender Equality in Research (SAGER) model to boost awareness for promoting women’s engagement in academia. During this technical support session, delegates were provided with insights into gender equality and women’s empowerment policies and practices in the higher education context of Vietnam. Participants were encouraged to apply the knowledge and skills gained to integrate gender-related content into their work, thereby enhancing capacity to promote women’s participation in leadership, management, and research at the University of Danang and beyond.

The technical support session yielded promising results. Specifically, more than half of the participants reported gaining new insights into women’s empowerment principles, with the majority equipped to apply the SAGER guidelines for gender integration in scientific research, academic teaching and related activities. Furthermore, nearly all attendees expressed their satisfaction with the workshop’s relevance to their work needs, acknowledging the facilitator’s expertise in the topics, and committing to applying the acquired knowledge and skills in their professional endeavors. Furthermore, the outcomes of the technical support offer potential solutions for tackling biases, dismantling obstacles, and overcoming challenges as women increasingly participate more actively in scientific research and management at the University of Danang. Gender equality and women’s empowerment has been a pivotal and overarching strategy for the PHER project’s success and ensuring impacts for the project overall.