This is according to the project “Empowering youth and women to foster the connection and common good at Creative Cities and World Cultural Heritage recognised by UNESCO in Vietnam”, which was signed by Chairwoman and CEO of the SOVICO Group Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao and Director of the Bureau of Strategic Planning of UNESCO Jean-Yves Le Saux in Paris on November 5.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Director-General of UNESCO Audrey Azoulay.
The agreement is especially significant during the country's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negatively affected the livelihoods of people working in the cultural and tourism industries.
This project will help link disjointed local initiatives while identifying meaningful institutional partnerships and financing opportunities for local youth and women, contributing to generating a strong ecosystem in cultural, creative, and tourism industries.
Good practices of the project are expected to serve as good examples in the empowerment of local people as well as sustainable tourism to inspire replication.
“We are welcoming a strategic partnership with SOVICO Group - a private corporation in this journey. We believe that, in order to achieve sustainable development, we need all stakeholders, including the private sector, governments, development organisations and local communities, to join hands. This has never been so relevant and needed as at this particular time of building resilience in societies after the global pandemic and in the face of so many other challenges,” said Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay.
Chairwoman and CEO of SOVICO Group, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, said that: “In partnership with UNESCO, we would like to contribute to the sustainable development and creativity through culture and education. SOVICO and UNESCO have a meaningful partnership working on creative cities, technology programmes for students and women. We will continue working tirelessly with UNESCO to provide development opportunities for young people, children and women in Vietnam, as a continuation of our action plan towards the Sustainable Development Goals over the past years. Together with UNESCO, this action plan will impact people’s lives not only within Vietnam, but also internationally.”
