At a meeting held on October 8 in response to the International Day for the Girl Child (October 11) in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son, Lan stressed gender imbalance at birth, with more boys than girls being born, is increasing rapidly in both rural and urban areas across the country.

Currently, the rate is around 114.8 boys/100 girls, with Lang Son province recording a higher figure of 116.3 boys/100 girls in 2018, she said.

The imbalanced sex ratio at birth will negatively affect Vietnam’s population structure in the future, resulting in an excess of men. If there is no timely measure put in place, 2.3 - 4.3 million men in Vietnam will have no chance to find wives by 2050, Ngoc underlined.

Besides, the imbalance could have grave consequences for the country’s socio-economic development as well as the lives of women, men, families and communities.

A shortage of women also causes an increase in women’s early marriage, prostitution, trafficking of women and girls, and domestic violence against women, among others, she added.

Lan expressed her belief that with drastic efforts from competent sectors and branches and the whole community, gender imbalance at birth will be improved, bringing a brighter future to Vietnamese women and girl children.

After the meeting, a wide range of activities and parade in response to the International Day for the Girl Child were organised on Lang Son city’s streets.