Providing ethnic women with startup skills is a positive way to expand women’s empowerment.(Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Providing ethnic women with startup skills is apositive way to expand women’s empowerment and embed gender equality, heard aforum held by the Institute for Studies of Society, Economy and Environment(iSEE) and Canadian non-profit organisation Artistri Sud in Hanoi on October21.
According to Ha Viet Quan, deputy head of the Committee for Ethnic MinorityAffairs’ Department of International Cooperation, ethnic minority groups, whichaccount for 14 percent of the Vietnamese population, are facing a wide range ofstructural inequalities in job, income, education, and health care access.
Gender inequality for ethnic minority women is also an issue for families andthe community, he added.
If women are equipped with the necessary skills and receive sufficient support,they can create sustainable livelihoods for themselves while making significantcontributions to their families and the community.
Sung Thi Lan, Chairwoman of the Muong Hoa Cooperative in Sapa town, Lao Caiprovince, said that at first she and many other ethnic women were reluctant to starta business due to barriers from family and society.
However, after taking part in a project run by the Center for SocialInitiatives Promotion (CSIP), ethnic women realised their strengths, anddecided to adopt several economic development models such as homestay tourismand brocade re-designing which have helped improve their incomes and escapepoverty, she added.
At the event, participants discussed new initiatives and approaches with a viewto further empowering ethnic women./.
VNA
