By: Juana Sanchez Castillo

The General Assembly Third Committee (GA3) entered formal session and plans to discuss the improvement of women and girls in rural areas. Representatives from Vietnam and Iran provided differing viewpoints on the topic.

Representatives Macy Holcomb and Adaline Boone from Vietnam believe that the equality between genders should come before self-determination. Representative Holcomb mentioned that Vietnam has seen significant advancements for women in education, with Representative Boone noting that Vietnam was ranked 74th out of 148 countries in the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report. Representative Boone further said, “The education of women is important in the context of self-determination because people have to know, and if people don’t know, how can they govern themselves?”

Representatives from the Republic of Iran Lily Wilder and Abby Wojtaszek expressed Iran’s beliefs in the differences of gender treatment. Iran believes in equity as “a fundamental principle of our religion,” said Representative Wilde. However, they acknowledge the differences in roles between women and men. Representative Wilder said, “there are differences in responsibilities of roles expected by each due to their different capacities.” Representative Wojtaszek further said, “helping promote programs (…) that make them self-employable but also make them leaders within their own communities.” Both Iranian Representatives note that these improvements have been implemented since the National Report on Women’s Status in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Beijing +25), a report created by the Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs.

While both Member States believe in the importance of improving the situation, they differ in perspectives of the situation itself. The Republic of Iran’s position is in the promotion and uplifting of skills in women, but for the benefit of domesticity and community. Meanwhile Vietnam believes in the importance of removing the barriers to women’s rights before discussing the rights of self-determination. 

As GA3 continues its session, it will discuss the topic of improvement of women and girls living in rural areas as well as self-determination through drafting resolutions.