19 Oct 2022 – On the occasion of the Vietnamese’s Women Day, on 18 October, VietCycle in collaboration with Unilever organized an ceremony to honor the silent female waste workers in Ha Noi.
From 2021, Unilever Viet Nam has pioneered the implementation of the program “The Plastic Reborn” with the partner VietCycle, aiming to separate waste at source and collect plastic waste to promote the Circular Economy model, and at the same time improve working conditions, occupational safety, health and life for female informal workers in waste collection sector.
The event had the participation of ministries, departments, domestic and international organizations such as: Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, United Nations Development Program, the Union International Nature Conservancy, GreenHub Green Development Support Center, etc. At the event, participants discussed and proposed policies to increase support for informal labor groups, especially female workers.
Speaking at the event, Ms. Le Thi Hong Nhi – Director of Communications and External Relations of Unilever Viet Nam emphasized that more than 90% of the force participating in waste sorting and collection activities are women. She also believes that they are the “green ambassadors” of the environment, contributing to cleaning and beautifying the country.
Mr. Hoang Duc Vuong – Chairman of VietCycle also expressed his desire to support informal workers who have a minimum level of security, enjoy health insurance, and have an organization to protect them when they are at risk. Along with that, Mr. Vuong also emphasized the importance of the participation of the government, domestic and foreign organizations to achieve the above results.
On behalf of UNDP Viet Nam, Ms. Morgane Rivoval – Climate Change and Circular Economy Officer presented UNDP’s activities targeting informal workers in 5 provinces in Viet Nam to improve capacity, awareness, and the lives of informal waste workers. The project has supported 5 revolving funds with 0% interest rate for more than 100 women with bottles, more than 154 training courses were organized for people and informal labor groups, 18 groups of ticks were established, activities attracted the participation of more than 10,000 people. In addition, the income of these labor groups has increased by more than 20% compared to the beginning of the project.
Besides, Ms. Morgane also introduced about Vietnam Circular Economy (CE Hub) – a collaborative initiative between UNDP Viet Nam and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The network continuously publishes inspirational stories about women in the circular economy, in order to encourage, contribute to recognize and promote the role of women.
At the ceremony, female waste workers also shared about the difficulties in their job as well as their wishes. At the same time, they also expressed their joy, happiness and gratitude when their work has been recognized.
