The organisers at the press conference (Photo: nhandan.com.vn)

The symphony concert “Girls Deserve to Shine” is organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of the National Action Month on Gender Equality and the Prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls.

The event is an initiative between the Government of Vietnam and UNFPA to join hands to raise public awareness and increase the value of women and girls within the context of addressing domestic violence and gender-biased sex selection in Vietnam.

The concert will feature promising and outstanding young female soloists to connect people, women and men, boys and girls from different socio-cultural backgrounds in different parts of Vietnam and in different parts of the world.

Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representative said “the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provided us with 17 development goals, but SDG5 is particularly important to ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ in all circumstances, including in crisis and humanitarian situations.”

“The 2030 Agenda has pledged to leave no one behind. This means that in our development efforts, girls must be a priority. The world, including Vietnam, should ensure that all the opportunities are granted to girls as they mature into adulthood. The culture of ‘boy preference’ has to be changed, where an equal valuing of girls is something that we must instill in all the contexts because “Girls deserve to shine”, she went on.

The concert will also be livestreamed on the UNFPA Vietnam fanpage at https://www.facebook.com/unfpa.vietnam and the UNFPA Vietnam Youtube channel./.VNA