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| Ethnic minority women weave brocade in Ha Giang. The province and CARE International in Vietnam have signed a framework cooperation agreement to improve the livelihoods of ethnic minority people – PHOTO: VNA |
The agreement lays a foundation for the development of community projects for agriculture livelihoods, climate change response, gender equality enhancement, economic empowerment for women and value chain connectivity.
CARE pledged to launch a project to improve the economic position of female ethnic minorities in six communes in the northern mountainous province’s Quang Binh District at a total cost of VND23 billion. The Ha Giang Province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the government of Quang Binh District will be in charge of implementing the project.
Its major components include improving the possibility of seeking income for poor ethnic minority women via agricultural and non-agricultural production, assisting them in saving and borrowing capital for economic development, improving the business capacity of women-led businesses and cooperatives and offering support to those in remote and mountainous areas who have limited access to modern technology and lack land for production.
The Women’s Union of Ha Giang Province and relevant agencies will provide technical and human resource support for the project.
Addressing the signing ceremony, vice chairman of Ha Giang Province Hoang Gia Long spoke highly of CARE’s contribution to the province’s socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. The rate of poor households in the province dropped to 22.29% last year from 43.6% in 2015.
He expressed his hope that CARE International would continue expanding projects underway in the province to help improve the income of ethnic minority groups. Long suggested CARE increase equipment and technology support for the province and organize training courses for farmers growing tea.
According to country director of CARE International in Vietnam Le Kim Dung, from 2017 to 2020, CARE carried out two projects in Ha Giang, including one to foster a partnership for the fair and comprehensive development of ethnic minority communities and another to comprehensively promote finance for female ethnic minorities, at a total cost of VND7.7 billion.
