Hanoi (VNA) – The UN Women Vietnam on September 30 handed over essential equipment worth 483.4 million VND (21,200 USD) to threePeace House Shelters in Hanoi and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho to upgrade free helpline (1900 969680) in order to improve responses to domestic andinternational calls and reports of violence against women, and to continue to improvethe overall quality of the support services for victims of violence and humantrafficking.

The assistance is part of UN Women’s efforts to put an endto violence and human trafficking targeting women in the ASEAN region.

According to UN Women, along with impacts on the socio-economicsituation, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rise in violence against women and children.

Addressing the hand-over ceremony, Elisa Fernandez Saenz, UNWomen Country Representative in Vietnam, said that the impact of the COVID-19pandemic, coupled with rigorous response measures, has exacerbated pre-existinglimitations regarding services to respond to violence against women andchildren. Therefore, support to upgrade these services is necessary, not onlyin the context of COVID-19, but in the long term to ensure the dignity,survival and social integration of women who are victims of violence andhuman trafficking. UN Women is delighted to accompany Peace House Shelters inthis journey, she stated.

In early 2021, within the framework of an urgent response toviolence against women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic, and funded bythe Australian Government, UN Women donated equipment worth nearly 1.5 billion VND(660,000 USD) to improve the quality of support services for women and children who are victims of gender-based violence.

To overcome systemic challenges posed by limited statebudget allocation, UN Women is committed to continue supporting the Peace HouseShelters across the nation to upgrade psychological counseling services and to strengthenoverall coordination and connection to provide more holistic support to womenand child survivors in Vietnam, said the UN Women representative.

Meanwhile, Duong Ngoc Linh, Director of the Center for Womenand Development which is in charge of the Peace House Shelters, thanked UN Womenfor the efforts. She affirmed that the equipment is a meaningful gift which motivatesall employees who are always committed to the peace of women and children. Inthe meantime, it contributes to the completion of the service package tosupport women and children experiencing gender-based violence, especially in thecontext of the COVID-19 crisis, she added.

The helpline number 1900 969680, along with a counselingroom, and the three Peace House Shelters all run by the Centre for Women andDevelopment under the Vietnam Women's Union, were established to provideemergency and comprehensive support services for women and childrenexperiencing domestic violence, sexual abuse and trafficking.

After 19 years of operation in Hanoi, and four years in CanTho, the helpline has counselled on 8,063 cases, amounting to 9,850 survivors overthe course of 12,961 calls. In addition, 3,424 women and child survivors ofgender-based violence from 50 provinces and 17 ethnic minority regions weresupported in-person at the Peace House Shelters.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number ofconsultations via both the helpline and social media channels of the Peace HouseShelters increased seven times compared to 2019, and in the first six months of 2021, the number of callers increased140 percent compared to the same period of 2020. The Peace House Shelters havecoordinated with local authorities incrisis counseling and emergency intervention, intervening in nearly 30 cases,an increase of 40 percent compared to the same period last year.

Victims and witnesses of violence against women and childrencan report and seek help via hotline 1900 969680./.