Few ethnic women seek legal services

HA NOI — According to a survey carried out by the Institute for the Study of Society and Environment, the biggest threats ethnic women faced were verbal and physical abuse.

The survey that questioned 500 women from four communes in Bac Can and An Giang provinces found that ethnic minority women still had limited access to legal services, despite the fact the services had been renewed and developed.

Ethnic minorities generally accepted their fate with resignation when their legal rights were violated, it said.

Husbands were the main violators of the Law on Marriage and Family and around 50 per cent of women said they did not benefit from policies for poor households.

The survey showed that although both Bac Can and An Giang provinces had legal assistance facilities, only 10 per cent of women consulted them.

It pointed out that many ethnic women didn't speak Vietnamese which made it difficult for them to receive help.

It said that judicial bodies needed to provide detailed outlines of the services available, and monitor the number of ethnic minority women using them.

Legal consultancy centres should actively strive to help more ethnic women, and provide more services to benefit them while relevant bodies should subsidise their use.

They should also take into account ethnic minority customs when resolving problems if the customs were inconsistent with law, it said.

The survey also asked women's associations and relevant bodies to promote the dissemination of law for ethnic women.

At present the country has 1,718 law offices.

According to a research by the United Nations Development Programme in 2003, 84 per cent of people in mountainous provinces did not know about legal consultancy centres.

From 2007 to 2008, the Legal Consultancy Department advised 198,051 ethnic minorities.

Last year, 25,853 ethnic minority people received legal advice. — VNS

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Ethnic minority poverty target of new strategy

HA NOI — Sustainable poverty reduction for ethnic and mountainous areas should be an important task for the 2011-15 period, attendants at a conference in Ha Noi were told on Friday.

The function, held by the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) in collaboration with the United Nations in Viet Nam, was aimed at recommending ways of reducing poverty.

Chairman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council Ksor Phuoc estimated that the poverty rate in some communes and villages would increase to more than 60 per cent or even 70 to 75 per cent next year.

Giang Seo Phu, a member of the Party Central Committee and chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, said the rate of reduction for ethnic people was much slower than the national average.

"Life expectancy, nutrition and other aspects of their lives remain low. Without big challenges in strategies in the near future, most poor people in Viet Nam will still be in ethnic minority and mountainous areas," Su said.

He said Viet Nam had made remarkable achievements in hunger eradication and poverty alleviation. The poverty rate had fallen from 58.1 per cent in 1993 to 12.1per cent last year.

But there is steady progress. The poverty rate among ethnic minorities and people in mountain areas fell from 86 per cent in 1993 to about 31.2 per cent last year.

This was in part due to the National Target Prog-ramme for Poverty Reduction, the Programme for Socio-economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas in the 2006-10 period, the Programme for Rapid Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the 62 poorest districts and the policy on supporting ethnic groups facing extreme hardship.

John Hendra, UN resident co-ordinator, said if the ethnic problem was to be effectively addressed, new approaches had to be considered.

"Future poverty reduction is likely to be much more difficult, more complex and more costly," Hendra said.

He said poverty reduction among ethnic minority groups was culturally sensitive and specific targeting measures were necessary.

Hendra said ethnic minorities would continue to need extra support through national poverty reduction programmes and more attention in key sectoral policies, including health, education, water and sanitation and nutrition.

"In addition, creating opportunities for employment and integration in the market economy is just as important for sustainable poverty reduction," he said.

Tran Van Thuat, former director of CEMA's Ethnic Policy Department, said poor people should be classified into different groups to make intervention more effective. — VNS

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Poverty reduction efforts continue in hills

A workshop opened in Hanoi on Dec. 3 to discuss solutions for rapid and sustainable poverty reduction in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2011-2015 period.

Addressing the workshop, Minister-Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Giang Seo Phu said the rate of poverty reduction for ethnic minority people was much slower than the national average poverty reduction rate and different ethnic groups had not benefited equally from economic growth, while life expectancy, nutrition and other aspects of the life of the majority of ethnic minority groups remained very low.

“This alerts us to the fact that without big changes in the poverty reduction strategies of the country, in the near future, the majority of poor people in Vietnam will still be those in ethnic minority and mountainous areas,” he added.

The experience of poverty amongst different ethnic minority groups is extremely diverse, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam John Hendra said, adding that culturally sensitive and context specific targeting measures will increasingly be necessary in order to reduce poverty further, to achieve economic, social and cultural development and to efficiently use allocated financial resources.

After nearly two decades of implementing hunger elimination and poverty reduction policies, the number people living in poverty has been significantly reduced, yet the remaining poor people are mainly ethnic minority people and people living in mountainous areas.

The poverty rate in ethnic minority and mountainous areas remains high – 31.2 percent in 2009 against the national poverty rate of 12 percent.

Research showed that people living in ethnic minority and mountainous areas are vulnerable to risks related to economic crises and climate change. Rapid and sustainable poverty reduction for ethnic minority and mountainous areas is therefore an important task for the 2011-2015 period.

The national poverty rate in Vietnam decreased from 58.1 percent in 1993 to below 12 percent in 2009, and the poverty rate of ethnic minority and mountainous areas from 86 percent in 1993 to around 31.2 percent in 2009.

The workshop, jointly held by the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and the United Nations in Vietnam, discussed challenges in ensuring rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, social security assistance, vulnerability of ethnic minorities to market influences and to the impacts of climate change, and directions for development of ethnic minority human resources for sustainable poverty reduction./.

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Ninh Thuan promotes craft industry, village development

The Cham ethnic minority Bau Truc pottery village in Ninh Thuan Province is one of the nation's oldest craft villages. A plan has been formulated to preseve craft villages in the province. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

NINH THUAN — The People's Committee of the central province of Ninh Thuan has approved a handicraft industry and village development plan.

Under the plan, by 2020 each district or city will have from three to five handicraft villages and two or three special products.

The province aims to reach 16-18 per cent annual growth in the industry, with revenue estimated to reach VND660 billion (US$33 million) by 2015 and VND1.4 trillion ($70 million) by 2020.

In addition, the sector is expected to create nearly 12,000 jobs by 2015, with a total of 25,000 by 2020.

Per capita income would reach VND1.8-2 million ($90-100) per month by 2015 and VND2.8-3 million ($140-150) by 2020.

Provincial authorities said the plan would help promote economic and social development, and preserve traditional festivals and ethnic minority cultures.

Ninh Thuan would also create policies to support the training of human resources, develop handicraft villages, and build infrastructure for the villages and industrial groups.

The province has also called for trade promotion and capital mobilisation for the development of the handicraft industry.

Total investment capital for the plan is estimated to reach VND2.4 trillion ($120 million). — VNS

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Lower fertility rates targeted in ethnic regions

Ethnic minority regions would need 10 years to reduce fertility rates to 2.1 children per woman, the General Office for Population and Family Planning reported at a seminar on ethnic populations and sexual health in Lao Cai province on Nov. 29.

According to the office's statistics, 20 provinces in Vietnam are home to ethnic minority people that account for 20 percent of the country's total population, and most of those provinces have high birth-rates compared to the rest of the country.

Most of them have a fertilitiy rate of 2.35 births per woman and eight have a rate of over 2.5, including Ha Giang and Kon Tum with rates of up to 3, against the national average of 2.23.

Tran Thi Thanh Mai, director of the office's Department of Communication and Education, said low education levels were behind the problem.

"Their knowledge on family planning and contraceptive measures is limited," she said.

These provinces don't have enough health workers to educate the public about family planning, she added.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Ba Thuy said the office would further promote population and reproductive healthcare work to help ethnic minority people reach the country's targeted reduced fertility rate.

In the next few years, family planning services in ethnic minority regions would be further focused, said Thuy.

Measures to control birth-rates and reduce the imbalance of sexes would also be applied.

Thuy said that investment in human resources and finance for the ethnic regions must be increased to achieve the desired results over the next 10 years./.

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Lower fertility rates targeted in ethnic regions

LAO CAI — Ethnic minority regions would need 10 years to reduce fertility rates to 2.1 children per woman, the General Office for Population and Family Planning reported in a seminar on ethnic populations and sexual health in Lao Cai Province on Monday.

According to the office's statistics, 20 provinces in Viet Nam are home to ethnic minority people that account for 20 per cent of the country's total population, and most of those provinces have high birth-rates compared to the rest of the country.

Most of them have a fertilitiy rate of 2.35 births per woman and eight have a rate of over 2.5, including Ha Giang and Kon Tum with rates of up to 3, against the national average of 2.23.

Tran Thi Thanh Mai, director of the office's Department of Communication and Education, said low education levels were behind the problem.

"Their knowledge on family planning and contraceptive measures is limited," she said.

These provinces don't have enough health workers to educate the public about family planning, she added.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Ba Thuy said the office would further promote population and reproductive healthcare work to help ethnic minority people reach the country's targeted reduced fertility rate.

In the next few years, family planning services in ethnic minority regions would be further focused, said Thuy.

Measures to control birth-rates and reduce the imbalance of sexes would also be applied.

Thuy said that investment in human resources and finance for the ethnic regions must be increased to achieve the desired results over the next 10 years. — VNS

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Fertility rate targeted in ethnic regions

LAO CAI - Ethnic minority regions need 10 years to achieve a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman, the General Office for Population and Family Planning reported in a seminar on ethnic populations and fertility health in Lao Cai Province.

According to deputy minister of health Nguyen Ba Thuy, the office would further promote population and reproductive healthcare work to help ethnic minority people reach the country's targeted fertility rate.

In the next few years, training for population workers as well as family planning services in ethnic minority regions would be further focused, said Thuy.

Measures to control birth-rates and reduce the imbalance of sexes would also be applied.

Thuy said that investment in human resources and finance for the ethnic regions must be increased to achieve the desired results over the next 10 years.

According to statistics, 20 provinces in Viet Nam are home to ethnic minority people that account for 20 per cent of the country's total population, and most of those provinces have high birth-rates compared to the rest of the country.

Eight of them have a fertility rate of over 2.5 births per woman, and Ha Giang and Kon Tum are up to three. - VNS

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Resettlement of nomadic ethnic minorities under review

A resettlement program reserved for nomadic ethnic minority people has been carried out too slowly and needs to gather all the available resources to accomplish all of its goals by 2012, a supervising agency has said.

The Nationality Council under the National Assembly held a conference to review the introduction of resettlement policies for ethnic minority households still engaging in nomadic lifestyle and farming, in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The council reported that since its launch in 2007, the program has helped over 1,000 ethnic minority households to switch to sedentary life and farming, representing only 3.5 percent of the original target 29,700 households, by the end of 2009.

The relevant State agencies and local authorities carried out just 126 out of the 297 settlement projects over the 2007-2009 period.

The council pointed to unmatched planning, inaccurate reports on the program’s beneficiaries and a very slow disbursement of government funding as main reasons behind the situation.

When speaking at the conference, the Chairman of the Nationality Council Ksor Phuoc, said that the Party and State’s resettlement policy was aimed at helping nomadic ethnic minorities to settle down and develop household-based economies to improve their living conditions.

He also stated that the policy has met the people’s aspirations and the needs of various localities.

To help all nomadic ethnic minority households to resettle by 2012 as planned, the council has asked the National Assembly to speed up its resettlement policies and programs.

The ministries, sectors and targeted localities need to revise and readjust their resettlement projects to adapt them to the current situation as well as publicize the State’s assistance policies to help beneficiaries relocate.

More than VND2.7 trillion has been allocated for the resettlement program and the initial outcomes will be reported to the National Assembly at its eighth meeting this October.

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Resettlement of nomadic ethnic minorities under review

A resettlement programme reserved for nomadic ethnic minority people has been carried out too slowly and needs to gather all the available resources to accomplish all of its goals by 2012, a supervising agency has said.

The Nationality Council under the National Assembly held a conference to review the introduction of resettlement policies for ethnic minority households still engaging in nomadic lifestyle and farming, in Hanoi on September 8.

The council reported that since its launch in 2007, the programme has helped over 1,000 ethnic minority households to switch to sedentary life and farming, representing only 3.5 percent of the original target 29,700 households, by the end of 2009.

The relevant State agencies and local authorities carried out just 126 out of the 297 settlement projects over the 2007-2009 period.

The council pointed to unmatched planning, inaccurate reports on the programme’s beneficiaries and a very slow disbursement of government funding as main reasons behind the situation.

When speaking at the conference, the Chairman of the Nationality Council Ksor Phuoc, said that the Party and State’s resettlement policy was aimed at helping nomadic ethnic minorities to settle down and develop household-based economies to improve their living conditions.

He also stated that the policy has met the people’s aspirations and the needs of various localities.

To help all nomadic ethnic minority households to resettle by 2012 as planned, the council has asked the National Assembly to speed up its resettlement policies and programmes.

The ministries, sectors and targeted localities need to revise and readjust their resettlement projects to adapt them to the current situation as well as publicise the State’s assistance policies to help beneficiaries relocate.

More than 2.7 trillion VND has been allocated for the resettlement programme and the initial outcomes will be reported to the National Assembly at its eighth meeting this October./.

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Less poverty amongst ethnic people in Lam Dong

The rate of poor ethnic minority households in the Central Highland province of Lam Dong has fallen to 18 percent, which represented a drop of 32 percent from the 2001-2005 period.

The figure was released at a meeting held in Da Lat City on August 30 to review the 10 years since Resolution No. 10-NQ/TW was issued by the Political Bureau on socio-economic development and national defence and security in the Central Highlands region between 2001-2010.

Reducing poverty sustainably in Lam Dong has also helped to stabilise the socio-economy, security and the political situation in the Central Highlands.

Over the last decade, the province has spent 87.8 billion VND on building 14,600 houses for ethnic minority people, who make up 22 percent of the province’s population and 69.4 billion VND on clean water supplies to 16,600 households.

The province has disbursed 500 billion VND from Programme 135 to develop local infrastructures in 49 extremely disadvantaged communes across 10 districts.

The power project in the Central Highlands region has also enabled Lam Dong province to supply electricity to more than 19,700 households in 475 villages.

The investment policy has helped to boost sustainable economic development amongst provincial ethnic minority communities, at an annual growth rate of 9-12 percent./.

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