Promoting Gender Equality

After graduating from Wesleyan with a degree in international relations, Diep Nguyen ’14 moved to Geneva, Switzerland, to pursue a master’s degree in international development at The Graduate Institute of International and Developmental Studies. In her second year of graduate school, she moved to Paris, France, to do research with a professor from Sciences Po Paris. Sciences Po is an international research university that ranks among the world’s finest institutions in the fields of humanities and social sciences. In 2016, while still in Paris, she graduated from the program.

While in Paris, Diep taught English as a private tutor and spent much of her time volunteering as a fundraising coordinator at the nonprofit SOS Help, the city’s only English-speaking crisis helpline. She also married Adrien Emery, whom she met in 2013 while studying abroad through the Irish-American Scholarship direct exchange program between Wesleyan and Queen’s University Belfast.

In 2017, after ten years abroad, Diep moved back to her hometown, Hanoi, Viet Nam, to begin her career as a gender program officer at UN Women Viet Nam. UN Women is part of the United Nations “Delivering as One” initiative in Viet Nam. The organization leads the UN’s advocacy to further promote gender equality by enhancing women’s economic empowerment; ending violence against women and girls; improving women’s access to justice; and making gender equality a key part of the national legal framework, policies, and plans.

“I am extremely honored to be involved in projects battling gender-based violence in youth and especially in the LGBTQIA community. Recently, I have been engaged in the drafting of and policy advocacy for the Gender Affirmation Law that is underway in Viet Nam. This is a massive effort by a handful of UN agencies spearheaded by UN Women and numerous civil society organizations. I am nothing but proud to be a part of something so meaningful.”

Diep also started and now chairs a French club at the UN. Members come from different UN agencies once every week to practice speaking the language and share innovative ideas.