Improving the Position of Ethnic Minority Women through the Policy of Credit Support for Poor Households: A Case Study of Northern Mountains of Vietnam45276

Improving the Position of Ethnic Minority Women through the Policy of Credit Support for Poor Households: A Case Study of Northern Mountains of Vietnam Dang Thi Hoa(1)*, Bui Thi Huong Tram(1), Nguyen Danh Loi(2) VASS Institute for Family and Gender Studies, Hanoi, Vietnam Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, HCM city, Vietnam * Correspondence: danghoa.ifgs69@gmail.com (1) (2) Abstract: This paper reviews the barriers to ethnic minority women in the development and effectiveness of the credit assistance package for women in poor ethnic minority households in northern region of Vietnam Based on data on poor ethnic minority household survey, covering 1,685 ethnic households of provinces (Lang Son, Ha Giang, Dien Bien, and Thanh Hoa) in 2018, the analysis emphasized the usefulness of ethnic minority women's capital and the support of Women's Union to help members use loans effectively Since 2003, the Government of Vietnam has launched the solution in poverty reduction strategies and sustainable development in ethnic minority areas in the policy package to support loans for poor minorities Through the credit support package, ethnic minority women are more proactive in planning production and selling products, with higher incomes from household production activities Ethnic minority women have overcome many barriers to take initiative in accessing to bank credit for household economic development The credit has been used for development of household economy and improving their position in the family and community, towards sustainable poverty reduction Keywords: Poor household; credit support; gender equality; ethnic minorities; policy; sustainable development Introduction Ensuring equality for women is one of the social development indicators towards the sustainable development of every nation and ethnicity in the world Discrimination against women through economic discrimination, inequality in education, health and participation in political activities are obstacles of development in countries nowadays Therefore, empowering women in the family, community and society is one of the important contents of the agendas to achieve the goals of the millennium In national development strategies, upholding women' position through empowerment of women in social communities which still preserve the remaining cultural values of gender inequality is of great significance The issue of discrimination and gender inequality still exists quite commonly in the context of a developing society, the ability to reach sustainable development goals is difficult to achieve when the disparity in fender equality rights remains high between men and women, especially in developing countries Gender inequality is quite common in cultures around the world and becomes a constraining barrier to national development when there are no steps to improve it and to enhance the role of women in maintaining their families, integrating into the community Gender inequality from an economic perspective and affirming the role of women in household economy are still posing a lot of problems in many cultures and in developed countries (Endalcachew, 2016) Women's empowerment and household economic development are closely linked together in the direction to reducing gender inequalities, and women's empowerment may be of great advantage for development (Duflo, 2012; Bradshaw et al., 2017) Women's economic empowerment is one of the factors that achieve equality when economic disparities persist with a significant portion of women working unpaid, women suffering from too much work including both housework and income generating work, but not play a decisive role in the economy of the family Improving the status of women requires a new perspective in the plan to build a sustainable growth economy, enabling more women to enter the labor force and achieve decision-making positions, equally influential as men Women must also have employment and self-development opportunities to promote economic development For developing countries, participation in the agricultural and forestry development job market combined with women's rights in household finances is of utmost importance In addition to women's participation, sharing among family members in both employment and decision making will foster the household economy, strengthening women's position in the family and community (Carol et al 2015) When empowered, rural women have access to family labor, control of resources, access to leadership positions or external communication, and proactively manage savings and credit, and their income would be improved (Galab and Rao 2003) The Government of Vietnam has made great efforts to improve and promote women's participation in economic and social life activities One of the most effective promotion policies is to support loans for women in households, improve their capacity with literacy programs, awareness raising training and technology transfer, science and technology to enable women in ethnic minority and remote areas to participate more fully in the job market and the economy (WB, 2016) Vietnam has 53 ethnic minorities, regional diversity and ethnic cultural diversity has an important influence on women's participation in the labor market and the economy Developing personal finance based on community supervision and assistance in poverty reduction can both exploit the efforts of households and promote the value of social capital and cultural capital of Vietnamese people (VASS, 2008: 14) One of the effective ways to reduce poverty in Vietnam is to support production for households through the preferential investment package for poor households from the social policy bank, especially for poor households of ethnic minorities Through socio-political organizations, including the Women's Union, women are given the rights to manage and autonomize loans and be responsible for planning activities, production project development, disbursement and supervision of implementation process to ensure that the safety of capital is rotated and developed in the community (CSCRAFC 2016; GSO, 2014; WB, 2012: 122) As a result, up to 80% of ethnic minority households have access to loans with low interest rates, infrastructure investments, and use of agricultural extension cash for households with land and development of livestock husbandry (WB, 2012: 133,139; ADB and UN Women, 2018) However, whether ethnic minority households are rich or poor is depends on gender characteristics in the work division and the ability of women to speak national language in the household That is, when women take the initiative to overcome barriers and receive state policy support packages, they will know how to develop household economy and overcome poverty (GSO, 2015) Methodology To study the position of ethnic minority women through the policy of credit support for poor household, we use the field survey method with household survey in the form of descriptive statistics; in-depth interview and observation method in the field The analytical data source used in this article is from a field survey of a national topic on some of the basic issues of gender equality in ethnic minority areas by the Institute for Family and Gender Studies in 2018 and 2019 based on a survey of 1,685 household representatives of ethnic minorities in provinces representing the Northern Uplands including Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Lang Son and Thanh Hoa provinces The ethnic groups selected in the survey sample include: Tay, Thai, Nung, Muong, Hmong, Dao, and Khmu, representing ethnic groups under the patriarchal system mainly in mountainous provinces in North and North Central region The household questionnaire was designed with the goal of assessing gender equality in Vietnam, including questions related to household borrowing and gender equality in the field of household economy The independent variables in the analysis of the paper include ethnicity, gender and type of household The dependent variables identified include living standards, loan needs, loan status, family decision-making power, and position in the family Quantitative data were analyzed and processed on SPSS 20.0 Indepth interviews and participatory observations were also used to find out the true position of women through their stories in daily life, studying the attitudes and perceptions of ethnic minority women about their credit loan packages and the changes in their decision-making rights to family life and production Results 3.1 Current position and obstacles of ethnic minority women in the household Ethnic minorities in the Northern Uplands are very diversed in cultural identities Most of the ethnic minorities in the Northern Uplands are patriarchal with characteristics that promote the role of men in the family and society Paternalism is ingrained in not only men but also the acceptance of women Therefore, women of ethnic minorities in the North often have a weaker position than men in both family relationships and with the community and society In the context where most of the ethnic minorities in Vietnam still rely on shifting cultivation and terraced fields, the main source of income is agricultural production with small-scale production, mainly growing food crops and short-day plants Up to 78% of households have their income mainly from farming and raising cattle and poultry on a small scale Activities of commodity production have not yet been formed, but mainly production of food crops and afforestation The standard of living for households is moderate and poor Table 1: Living standard of households by ethnicity Living standard*** Moderate Average Poor Very poor N Tay 12.0 72.0 14.7 0.7 150 Dao 4.0 35.0 58.0 2.5 200 Nùng 8.0 66.9 24.6 0.6 175 Thái 11.2 34.4 46.8 7.2 250 Mường 8.0 58.4 31.2 1.2 250 Hmong 2.5 38.5 54.5 3.6 442 Kho mu 5.8 27.1 59.4 7.7 155 Bo Y 7.9 65.1 27.0 63 Chung 7.3 44.3 44.6 3.4 1,685 Source: The 2018 Survey Note: Significant level: *** P