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The impacts of development-induced resettlement disproportionately affect women, as they frequently face more difficulties than men to cope with disruption and changes. Women's situation might further deteriorate if there is no mechanism for affected households to enjoy meaningful participation and consultation in the resettlement process. This paper is the result of policy analysis, project implementation experience, and findings of a cross-sectional survey of 876 affected households in Vietnam. We examine women's participation in resettlement processes in large infrastructure projects in Vietnam. The survey findings revealed the limited participation of women in the resettlement processes from all perspectives (meeting attendance, resettlement implementation, and making decisions) at community and household levels. Gender-stereotyped prejudice from community members and the gender-ascribed household division of labour were key factors inhibiting women's meaningful participation. The paper also discusses the implications of the findings for impact assessment practice. We call for a shift in how resettlement is prepared and implemented towards a more comprehensive and gender-informed approach, with a view to making affected people genuine beneficiaries of resettlement programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From mid-1999 to mid-2001, the authors carried out a qualitative study in rural Vietnam to explore relationships between gender equity and reproductive health. One of the study's objectives was to develop culturally appropriate indicators of women's empowerment, specific to the Vietnamese context. This paper describes the process of developing, testing, and refining the empowerment indicators, presents some of the findings, and discusses the methodological challenges that need to be addressed. The paper concludes by recommending a set of Vietnamspecific domains for assessing women's empowerment in the socio-economic sphere as well as in reproductive health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the publication of the reports by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), many research papers have documented inequities, explaining causal pathways in order to inform policy and programmatic decision-making. At the international level, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) reflect an attempt to bring together these themes and the complexities involved in defining a comprehensive development framework. However, to date, much less has been done to address the monitoring challenges, that is, how data generation, analysis and use are to become routine tasks. Objective: To test proposed indicators of social determinants of health (SDH), gender, equity, and human rights with respect to their relevance in tracking progress in universal health coverage and population health (level and distribution). Design: In an attempt to explore these monitoring challenges, indicators covering a wide range of social determinants were tested in four country case studies (Bangladesh, Brazil, South Africa, and Vietnam) for their technical feasibility, reliability, and validity, and their communicability and usefulness to policy-makers. Twelve thematic domains with 20 core indicators covering different aspects of equity, human rights, gender, and SDH were tested through a review of data sources, descriptive analyses, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. To test the communicability and usefulness of the domains, domain narratives that explained the causal pathways were presented to policy-makers, managers, the media, and civil society leaders. Results: For most countries, monitoring is possible, as some data were available for most of the core indicators. However, a qualitative assessment showed that technical feasibility, reliability, and validity varied across indicators and countries. Producing understandable and useful information proved challenging, and particularly so in translating indicator definitions and data into meaningful lay and managerial narratives, and effectively communicating links to health and ways in which the information could improve decision-making. Conclusions: This exercise revealed that for monitoring to produce reliable data collection, analysis, and discourse, it will need to be adapted to each national context and institutionalised into national systems. This will require that capacities and resources for this and subsequent communication of results are increased across countries for both national and international monitoring, including the successful implementation of the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The issue of gender imbalance in computing professions and higher education programs is well documented. The specific contextual reasons for the observed disparity are less well documented and in Vietnam are until now unrealized. There are a number of social, political, personal and historical factors that influence female enrollment into IT programs at university and there is no single global scenario. This paper discusses the trends and barriers around the world and examines the gender imbalance in an undergraduate IT course at a Vietnamese campus of an Australian university. A number of initiatives and key success factors for closing the gender gap are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the impact of the characteristics of the audit committee on tax avoidance in Vietnam. The article uses data of non-financial firms listed on the Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi Stock Exchange over the period 2010–2019. By using the FEM and SGMM estimation for panel data, the empirical results show how the characteristics of the audit committee affect tax avoidance differently. Specifically, we find that the size of the audit committee has a positive correlation to tax avoidance, while the proportion of female members, financial and accounting experts of the audit committee can constrain tax avoidance behaviors. Our finding provides some important implications for listed firms to enhance the role of the audit committee in constraining tax avoidance behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many rural women, who are faced with the challenges of low rural incomes and gender inequality, improve their role in the farming system based on participation in the agricultural value chain thus enhancing agricultural productivity, household income and sustainable development. This study investigates the factors which affect participation in the production of cassava in Dak Lak Province and decisions in relation to the cassava value chain from a gender perspective. Data were obtained through a questionnaire-based survey of 300 household farmers, in-depth interviews with key informants, and focus group discussions. Probit and ordinary least squares regression models in a two-stage Heckman model were adopted to determine the factors affecting females' decisions to participate in cassava cultivation, their level of participation and their participation in other stages of the cassava value chain. The survey results show that men are prominent in all stages of cassava production but there is a more equal gender dynamic in both cassava production participation decisions and decisions relating to the quantity of cassava to be supplied for commercial purposes. This article draws attention to the continuing role challenges of female smallholder farmers, but also shows how women's empowerment is contingent on equity dynamics in the household as well as social norms in the community and wider society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because sex-selective abortions are generally conducted during the second term of the pregnancy, timing of abortion can be used as an indirect way of studying sex-selection by abortion. We examined the likelihood of having a first-trimester vs. second-trimester abortion among a group of 885 married women who had an abortion in an obstetric hospital in Hanoi in 2003. In the absence of sex-selection by abortion, the number and sex of living children should not affect the timing of abortion. Results indicate that women with more children, particularly those with more daughters or without a son, were more likely to undergo a second-term abortion than a first-term abortion. We estimate that, in 2003, 2 per cent of all abortions to women with at least one living child were intended to avoid the birth of a female. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]