To effectively translate the study and following of Uncle Ho’s thought, morality, and lifestyle into practice, the 6^th Congress of Military Women (2016-2021 tenure) concretized its policies and objectives of building “four-good” military women as one of the breakthrough solutions for building strong military women  organizations in the new period.

Delegation of the 6th Military Women Congress reporting achievements to Uncle Ho (photo: bqllang.gov.vn)

On comprehending Directive No. 05-CT/TW by the Politburo (12^th tenure), Directive No.87-CT/QUTW by the Standing Board of the Central Military Commission on the acceleration of studying and following Uncle Ho’s thought, morality, and lifestyle, the 6^th Congress of  Military Women called upon its military women unions to take concrete and creative measures on the basis of inheriting and bringing into play the performance of the execution of Directive No.03-CT/TW of the Politburo (11^th tenure) to put the studying and following of Uncle Ho’s thought, morality, and lifestyle into action as well as into the reality of army-wide women movements as a routine task for its members. Under that spirit, the course of action charted by the Congress set goals of building “four good” military women, deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”; accomplishing assigned duties and responsibilities, contributing to the building of strong and pure party organizations, and comprehensively strong offices and units.        

To attain those aforementioned goals, the Military Women Committee and army-wide women unions at diverse levels have laid down a specific set of criteria for each goal, and actively effected various solutions in close alignment with great movements and campaigns initiated by the Party, the State, the Army and Vietnam Women’s Union, and “determined to win” emulation movements launched by offices and units. In the first place, the acceleration of communication and education makes each military women union and its members fully conscious that the satisfactory completion of these goals is indicative of their sense of responsibilities for carrying out Directives No. 05 and No. 87 as well as great reverence for President Ho Chi Minh; simultaneously, norms and standards of building “four-good” military women should be firmly grasped as a basis for the synchronous and uniform implementation amongst military women unions. Communication and education work must be carried out via diverse forms, namely meetings, forums, contests, exchange activities of art and culture, internal radio systems, the military and non-military mass media, etc., truly pulling in the sheer number of union members. In 2017, army-wide female personnel have satisfactorily executed a study theme titled “Norms for striving to study and follow Uncle Ho’s thought, morality, and lifestyle towards female military cadres and union members” and other themes of Uncle Ho’s thought, morality, and lifestyle; “deserving to be Uncle Ho’s soldiers” in the new situation, thereby rendering union members clearly conversant with particularities, advantages and difficulties and mission requirements facing their offices and units; therefore, they would uphold their sense of duties and responsibilities for both accomplishing corporate missions and shouldering womanhood towards their husband, children, and family.

On perceiving those stated goals, all union members have registered to strive for “four good” norms. Accordingly, each union member has performed at least one good deed of “following Uncle Ho’s example”; practised at least a form of thrift; regularly exercised a sport. Military women unions at grass-roots level are required to include contents of building “four-good” military women in annual courses of action and working schedules with highly practicable and specific solutions and objectives; strive to reach at least 15% of the total union members meeting the “four-good” norms; select and perform one outstanding practice for the purpose of communication and spreading; maintain at least one club or a model of a happy family. More importantly, the performance of the building of “four-good” military women acts as a  basic criterion for assessing the implementation of Directives No.05-CT/TW and No.87-CT/QUTW as well as the operational quality and effectiveness of military women unions and their members on a yearly basis, thereby contributing to improved efficiency of women movements in offices and units.

 Stimulating fruitful movements and models, and promoting model role-setting of a pool of key female cadres is one of the significant solutions for bringing “four-good” norms to real life. Over the past years, military women movements have given added impetus to further enhanced dignity, competence and working experience of the military female personnel, thereby contributing not only to the building of pure and strong party organizations and comprehensively strong offices and units, but to promoted military “determined to win” emulation movements and Vietnam women’s patriotic emulation ones. On the basis of attained results, military women unions have continuously maintained and spread productive movements and practices, namely “following Uncle Ho’s example to practise thrift, make joint efforts to eliminate poverty sustainably”; “military women assist one another in developing family economy”; “Women themselves set some money aside for the needy people”, etc. For the sake of a major breakthrough in augmented “four-good” norms and following “Uncle Ho’s example”, in parallel with further fostering the movements, namely “Cultivating moral virtues of confidence, self-esteem, faithfulness, and resourcefulness”; “building “5-no, 3-clean” family”; “Strategy for building Vietnamese family towards 2010, vision to 2030”; the course of action of the project of preventing and responding to gender-based violence in the 2016-2020 period, vision to 2030”, etc., military women unions have aligned those goals with the campaign “Promoting tradition, devoting talent, deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”; introduced and executed several new models, namely “match nice words with good deeds” club; “Diary of following “Uncle Ho’s example”; “One good deed a day”; “energetic and beautiful”, etc. Besides, proper regard should be paid to advancing professional knowledge, life skills, and healthcare services for female military personnel with growing emphasis placed on some campaigns such as “Action month for children”; “Vietnamese Day for Families”; “Action Month for gender equality and gender-based violence prevention”, thereby galvanizing them into emulation movements of studying and following Uncle Ho’s example and deserving to be “Uncle Ho’s soldiers”.

Following Uncle Ho’s teaching “A real-life example is far more valuable than one hundred propaganda speeches”, a pool of women unions’ cadres have closely and responsibly abided by Guideline No.09/HD-ĐCT, dated 06-5-2013 of Vietnam Women Union on Regulations of leading by example amongst party members and cadres in close association with Resolutions of the 4^th Plenum of the Central Party Committee (12^th tenure) on Party building and rectification, thereby encouraging them to realize the “four-good” norms in an active, proactive, and single-minded fashion.   

Promoting leadership and direction of party executive committees, commissars, commandants, and political offices at various levels is a decisive solution for effectuating the “four-good” norms according to stated objectives and requirements. The reality has shown that the more attention units pay to the military women movements, the more effervescent they become. As a result, for the sake of increased operational effectiveness, party executive committees, commissars, commandants, and political offices at various levels need to concentrate their leadership and directions on steering military women unions’ activities in the right direction in line with their function and tasks as well as units’ specific conditions. Accordingly, it is essential to streamline and make military women unions politically, ideologically, and organizationally strong; offer training courses to heighten professional capabilities and working methods for a pool of union members. According to their assigned functions and tasks, military women unions have given advice to party executive committees and commandants on contents, programs, and operational plans pertaining to women-related work on a monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis, especially on the introduction and implementation of the Party’s resolutions, the State’s policies and law, and military regulations on military women-related work while closely cooperating with mass organizations in offices and units, with Military Women Union, Public Security Women Union, and the localities’ women unions on assisting one another in their work, improving the performance of Directive No. 05, and facilitating better coordination and solidarity among armed forces, the local party executive committees, governments and people in their stationed areas. Inspection, preliminary and overall assessment should be periodically carried out to learn  lessons of experience, spread best practice, opportunely reward outstanding individuals and collectives, and redress the formalistic and cursory practice.

Given above-mentioned approaches, the building of “four -good” military women has found its way into female military personnel’ daily activities, breathed new life into military women unions, offices and units, and seen initial significant outcomes. It is affirmed that it is both a breakthrough and a remarkable testament to closely implementing Directive No.05-CT/TW of the Politburo and Directive No.87-CT/QUTW of the Standing Board of the Central Military Commission on the study and following of Uncle Ho’s thought, morality, and lifestyle amongst female military personnel.

Snr. Col. Bui Thi Lan Phuong, Head of the Military Women Committee  

* Notes: “four-good” norms include: (1) Good health physically and mentally; (2) good dignity of political willpower, morality and competence; (3) good professionalism; (4) good married life.