Overview

In the 2019 Census, Viet Nam recorded the highest proportion of young people in the country’s history, creating the potential for a demographic dividend. Viet Nam’s 20.4 million young people, aged 10 – 24, accounted for 21% of the population, and the demographic window is projected to last until 2039. Young people’s success and well-being require targeted policies and services to allow them to reach their full potential, also in the area of sexual and reproductive health.

Evidence shows that Vietnamese young people are becoming sexually active at an earlier age. This highlights their need for reproductive health services and information. However, young people lack adequate and comprehensive information and services to make well-informed decision on their sexual and reproductive health, and the situation is accentuated among marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities and people with disabilities (PWD). 

According to the survey measuring the Viet Nam SDG indicators on Children and Women (2021), the adolescent birth rate was 42 live births per 1,000 women. This rate was higher in marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities. The same survey shows that barely 18% of young women aged 15-19 made their own informed decisions regarding sexual intercourse and contraceptive use compared with 68% of women aged 35-39 years. Whilst contraceptive use has increased nationally the unmet need for modern contraceptives among unmarried people is 4 times higher than that of married people. There is also a significant number of unwanted pregnancies among young people, especially among unmarried adolescents (aged 15-19 years) and youth. Besides, only 39.8% of young women and 48.7% of young men aged 15 - 19 had comprehensive knowledge on HIV prevention. 

Efforts to promote youth participation are being carried out in Viet Nam, but require much more attention. Only 2.2% of the 499 members of the 15th National Assembly are young members aged under 35 years, and only 30.2% of parliamentarian are women. The Ministry of Home Affairs reported that nearly 40% of young people have never participated in processes linked to policy development related to youth. 

What we do:

UNFPA supports the government of Viet Nam on the key following interventions to promote youth development: 

a.    Building capacity and promoting the participation of young people, especially marginalized youth (ethnic minority youth, young migrants, youth with disabilities, LGBTIQ+, etc) in policy dialogue and implementation of youth-related policies at national and local levels, including sexual and reproductive health policies for youth. 
b.    Strengthening the capacity of Ministry of Home Affairs on state management of youth and the capacity of relevant ministries and sectors in planning and implementing relevant programmes and policies on youth development. 
c.    Improving comprehensive sexuality education and encouraging youth-led initiatives on sexual and reproductive health for in schools and out-of-school youth.