Step 4 of the Australia Awards Short Course Women in Leadership Journey 7 (WILJ7) – the Australian component of the program – has recently wrapped up in Perth. The WILJ7 aims to promote gender equality and social inclusion while building leadership capability in Vietnam. Co-led by Associate Professor Samantha Owen, Director, Gender Equity & Inclusion, and Dr Tien Nguyen, from Curtin Singapore, the program is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and managed by the Vietnam Australia Centre in partnership with the Centre for Gender Studies and Women’s Rights at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. During their time in Australia, participants met and engaged with more than 120 experts in gender mainstreaming, leadership and responsive planning.

Curtin was privileged to have Ms Nguyen Thuy Chi, co-founder of the social enterprise Touch Green and the first participant with cerebral palsy to join a WILJ, and Ms Vuong Thi Quyen, from the Social Protection Centre of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin, Department of Administrative Affairs, a second-generation Agent Orange survivor who is the first representative to participate in an Aus4Skills cohort. As part of the program, the cohort met with HE Robyn Mudie and senior DFAT leaders to discuss how gender equality, disability and social inclusion analysis is the foundation of work undertaken by Australia and Vietnam. This informs the participants’ application projects, with a quarter covering inclusion and support for people with disabilities and victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin.

Step 4 of the WILJ7 program was a collaborative effort of more than 60 Curtin staff including Senior Leaders, academics and professional staff. Thank you to Associate Professor Owen, Dr Nguyen, the WILJ7 Delivery team and all staff involved in the success of WILJ7 Step 4. Read more about WILJ7 highlights in the Curtin Kudos article.