Two inspirational Vietnamese women honored by BBC

Nguyen Thi Van (L) and Nguyen Thi Thu Trang are seen in this collage of file photos.

Conservationist Nguyen Thi Thu Trang and co-founder of the Will to Live Center Nguyen Thi Van were honoured by the BBC’s ‘100 Women’, a multi-format series which examines the role of women in the 21st century.

The annual ‘100 Women’ list, which this year asks what the future would look like if it were driven by women, also includes American politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, teenage Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and FIFA Women’s World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe.

Trang, 29, has a PhD in biopersity management and set up WildAct, a non-profit organization which helps authorities monitor illegal wildlife trade markets.

Growing up in Vietnam, Trang was “confronted from a young age with monkeys chained up for sale on the streets and bears held to extract bile for traditional medicine," the British broadcaster said.

Nguyen Thi Thu Trang (second right) is seen at the Kruger National Park in South Africa in this provided photo.

In 2018, WildAct launched Vietnam's first-ever master's course in combating illegal wildlife trade to help train the next generation of conservationists.

“People need to put aside their prejudices and work together to gain a better understanding of the issues of conservation and create solutions for the problems that will be effective and long lasting,” Trang was quoted by the BBC as saying.

“For the future of nature conservation, it is important that women's voices are heard and their actions are recognized.”

Van, 32, who was born with spinal muscular atrophy, is co-founder and CEO of the Will to Live Center, which provides training for disabled people in Hanoi.

Her aim is to “create an equal working environment for all," the BBC said.

She also runs social enterprise Imagator, which employs 80 people, half of whom have a disability.

Nguyen Thi Van (L) and her husband Neil Bowden Laurence. Photo: Nam Tran / Tuoi Tre

“I wish the environment in Vietnam enabled people with talent and devotion to develop, instead of people feeling like they need to move abroad to use their skills,” she told the BBC.

Launched in 2013, the annual ‘100 Women’ list focuses on the achievements of women in today’s society and aims to tackle underrepresentation of women in the media.

The BBC said it looked for candidates who had made the headlines or influenced important stories over the past 12 months, as well as those who had inspiring stories to tell, achieved something significant or influenced their societies in ways that would not necessarily make the news.

VNF ( TTO )