Representatives of Nestle Vietnam and the Viet Nam Women's Union (VWU) sign a cooperation agreement in Ha Noi on Thursday. — Photo Hang Tran

Nestle Vietnam and the Viet Nam Women's Union (VWU) signed a co-operation agreement to enhance the quality of life and empower local women, especially women in rural areas in Ha Noi, on Thursday.

The agreement focused on promoting communication to raise awareness on gender equality and women's empowerment, supporting women to increase incomes, create jobs for economic development, and share experiences and successful models with good practices.

Tran Thi Huong, vice president of the union, said: “The agreement marks a three-year milestone of the co-operation between Nestle Vietnam and the union in improving the lives of women and their families in Viet Nam.”

Through the programme called 'Sister Nest', Nguyen Minh Nguyet, director of Food Business from Nestle Vietnam, said: "It has helped support training to improve knowledge about nutrition, business skills and increasing income for rural women. Nestle Vietnam in co-operation with the VWU, from 2017 to now has helped connect 9,000 members in 1,500 communes in 20 provinces and support more than 1.5 million rural households.”

To promote gender balance, the company’s NESCAFE Plan's women's empowerment has also trained female leaders of coffee farmers' groups, making the percentage of female farmer group leaders so far reach 30 per cent of the total number of team leaders participating in the project.

With these achievements, at the end of November 2020, the United Nations Agency on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) awarded the Principles of Empowering Women Award (WEPs) to Nestle Vietnam for commitments and achievements achieved on the two categories of Gender Equality Through Community Participation and Industry and Gender Equality At Work. — VNS