Phi Hung Cudng vd dig Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 8105: 79-83 GENDER ISSUES IN THE POVERTY REDUCTION IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF THAI NGUYEN Phi Hung Cuong'*, Vu Van Anh^ College of Sci
Trang 1Phi Hung Cudng vd dig Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 81(05): 79-83
GENDER ISSUES IN THE POVERTY REDUCTION
IN MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF THAI NGUYEN
Phi Hung Cuong'*, Vu Van Anh^
College of Sciences - TNU, 'College of Education - TNU
SUMMARY
Gender issues are closely related to poverty and development The annual reports on human
development show that the poor provinces have low human development index and gender
development index The given issues show that poverty and inequality are major factors hindering
the development of mountainous Thai Nguyen today These two issues have the corelalion that
makes difficulties in mountainous areas more serious and it is not easy to overcome in a short
time Therefore, besides improvements in many aspects, the work of poverty reduction in
mountainous areas, especially in highlands, ethnic minority areas of Thai Nguyen is in difficulties
In this context, implementing methods of poverty reduction and combined gender equality
improvement is an actually reasonable way to reduce poverty effectively and sustainably The
solution is to ensure synchronization and system on the basis of expansion of opportunities, access
to services, risk reduction and right creation for women
Keyword.- Gender, poverty reduction, poverty, mountainous, ThalNguyen
INTRODUCTION
Gender issues are closely related to poverty
and development The annual reports on
human development show that the poor
provinces have low human development
index and gender development index So is it
possible that improving gender equality will
also contribute to poverty alleviation for the
people? The article refers to the relationship
between gender and poverty, and propose
methods for reducing poverty and improving
gender equality in midland and mountainous
provinces such as Thai Nguyen
CONTENT
2.1 Poverty in Thai Nguyen
Poverty and inequality between rich and poor
is a hot socio-economic issue today It is a
big drag on the way to construct and develop
Thai Nguyen province according to
orientation of socialism in Vietnam
The province has 36 extremely difficult
communes where the Government and the
province have carried out the project for the
socio- economic development in diffieuh
communes in mountainous or remoted areas
(Programme 135) Provineal People's
Tel: 0915210558: Email: phihungcuongtn@yahoo.com
Committee has developed projects for the socio-economic development for 36 extremely diffieuh communes of three districts: Vo Nhai, Dinh Hoa and Phu Luong These districts have difficult natural conditions for the socio-economic development
Table 2.1 Poverty rate by province in 2007 in
Thai Nguyen
No Districts Poverty rate
(%)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Dinh Hoa DaiTu Dong Hy Phu Luong
Vo Nhai Phu Binh Pho Yen Song Cong Thai Nguyen
34.06 23.66 20:55 26.61 41.09 24.22 18:47 13.90 5:59
Source; Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs In Thai Nguyen province
In fact, although poverty alleviation has gained good results but problems related lo the relationship between poverty reduction and sustainable use of resources in mountainous Thai Nguyen is still a matter of urgency This is also a challenge for Central policy makers and local managers
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Poverty reduction and sustainable
management of natural resources requires the
participation and joint efforts of women, men
and authorities This is especially important
with the mountainous area as Thai Nguyen,
where ethnic communities reside alternately,
where ethnic minorities have their own
concepts and habits in dealing with natural
resources For women, participating in the
authorities, unions is an important mechanism
lo reflect the wills and aspirations of their
gender in activities of poverty reduction and
resource use in each locality However, in
mountainous Thai Nguyen, the participation
rale of women leaders at grassroots level is very
low, the operation of the association of women
also face difficulties Therefore, to create
conditions for women, particularly women of
ethnic minority lo participate in issues of
sustainable management of natural resources
and poverty reduction is also a challenge in
mountainous province as Thai Nguyen
2.2 The relationship between gender and
poverty
Gender: is all the characteristics of society
and culture related lo men and women These
features differ in different societies and
change over time
There are different trends when discussing on
the relationship between gender and poverty
The first trend accepts the differences between men and women in poverty and the opportunity to escape poverty, as this is natural matter without justification and without change This concept indicates that the difference between men and women is regulated by the nature (biological factors) so
if women are weaker, poorer than men, it is understandable The second trend do not acknowledge differences between men and women, but they are the same in poverty Both men or and women will need the same supports and solutions to escape poverty This concept shows that poverty is not related lo gender The third trend indicates that gender does not determine the capacity or the poverty level of men, women On the contrary, the
social factors affect the position, role and
improvement of women and men This concept also indicates that a low social position is a factor that raises risk and leads to poverty Actually, the relationship between gender and poverty can be considered on three main aspects of production, reproduction and correlation between the two genders today
On the aspect of production, this relationship
is demonstrated in the structure of labor in the national economic sectors in which women workers constitute the most
Table 2.2 Male and female laborers classified by economic sector in Thai Nguyen in 2007
(Unit; person)
No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Economic category Agriculture, forestry and fisheries
Industry, construction,
Production, distribution of electricity, water
Trade, repair of cars
Sevices, employment
Information, banks
Scienctific special subjects
Party activities Politic organizations
Total
Male
2005 209,587 48,624 2,110 24,889 5,197
909 1,894 15,065 308,275
2007 208,540 58,385 3,045 30,265 8,344 1,590 2,160 16,657 328,986
Female
2005 207,206 37,455
769 21,198 9,105 1,113
991 22,435 300,272
2007 203,898 37,052 1,289 24,028 11,045 1,905 1,145 24,333 304,695
Source; Statistical Office of Thai Nguyen 2007
Women participate more in agricultural
80
production while men are hired labors Thus,
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women have a lot of difficulties to escape
poverty owing to the risky characteristic of
agricultural production, especially in
mountainous areas where natural conditions
are not favorable for food crops
On the aspect of reproduction, women have a
direct role in developing and maintaining
race This is related to the role of mothers
The studies concluded that: education of
women has a positive impact to the birth rate
reduction, mothers who finish a primary
school has a lower birth rate than illiterate
mothers Education of mothers has a positive
impact in reducing the rate of malnutrition in
children under the age of 5, increasing
numbers of school years of children Also,
when considering the viewpoint of care and
nurture, women with education and health
have conditions to lake care of family
members better, and more scientificaly
Clearly, if the society invests more actively in
improving education and health of women, it
means to invest in human development - a
decisive factor for the sustainable
development of each locality
On the third aspect: considering the
correlation between the two genders today,
poverty and ability to escape poverty of each
gender are different because each is affected
by the work they do, the location, the voice of
each gender in the family, community as well
as the access and management of women and
men with the material and spiritual rsources
Clearly, poverty is a especially vicious cycle
for women and girls in the mountainous
provinces such as Thai Nguyen But to break
this vicious cycle, if you just focus on women
and girls, and forget the role of men, it will be
hard lo gel a sustainable poverty reduction
In fact, in many localities, husbands and
fathers have certain voice and positions in
implementing family planning
In short, if the gender correlation changes positively on the basis of attracting men and creating conditions for them to change behaviors, actively discussing and making equal decisions in the family and community
in order to benefit both women and men in aspects such as division of labor, allocation of resources, beneficiary interests, etc, the poverty reduction activities will be increasingly sustainable
Figure 2.1 Poverty circle of women and girls
2.3 Some comments and recommendations
For the mountainous areas in general and Thai Nguyen in particular, jobs in the labor market are still generally uncertain, with low income and much risk although jobs have been more extended than before Poverty assessment study with the participation oflhe people showed that most manual labors depend on seasonal crops; they can be refused
lo pay the salaries/wages by the foremen, or they have lo work overwhelmedly and face accidents, etc The average amount of money the workers get is 15,000 dongs per day; women always get the lower rale than men (DEID and Consuhing Ageles 2003) Methods for creating job stability, assuring working conditions and being guranteed by the law offices need to be implemented for both women and men in mountainous areas
In agricultural production, access to services
of agricultural expansion encouragement and credits is an important condition to expand production Poor women and men generally have less access to the argricultural extension
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study is common in many areas throughout
the country Although women occupy mainly
in agricultural production, including both
cultivation and breeding, the rate in which
women participate in cultivation training
sessions only occupies 25%, in breeding
training sessions 10%
Effective land use and management is a
necessary condition for the poor to have a
stable life and strive to escape poverty For
the land management, being granted the
certificate to receive the right of land use is
important In fact, until now, the undersigned
women for the certificate have occupied a low
rate among granted certificates of land use
right Especially, the rate of certificates
names the wife and husband is too low This
is common to all types of land, including
annual arable land, tree planting land and
forest land
Notably, the group of poor women has few
conditions lo control soil The percentage of
women signing the certificate of land use
rights in the group of poorest households is
5-7% oflhe total number of certificates already
issued for soils For mountainous areas,
forest land has a significant meaning, but only
5% of wives and 2% of spouses sign the
certificate of forest land use rights; this is
clearly the condition that resource managers
and the authorities should be particularly
interested in
Strengthening the participation of women,
especially women in highlands, women of
ethnic minorities in the discussions and
decisions on matters of economy, society
poverty reduction is an urgent demand
nowadays The specific methods of concern
include giving information on poverty
reduction activities in a timely manner and
appropriate language and form for women,
supporing the activities of unions, especially
the activities of the Women's Union in the
difficult areas, training of the young women
to become officers in the localities
In short, poverty and gender inequality,
particularly in mountainous and remoted
areas in Thai Nguyen is the general result of
c®mplicated and mixed social factors The
solutions set out need to take inclusiveness
82
CONCLUSIONS The given issues show that poverty and inequality are major factors hindering the development of mountainous Thai Nguyen today These two issues have the corelation that makes difficulties in mountainous areas more serious and it is not easy to overcome
in a short time Therefore, besides improvements in many aspects, the work of poverty reduction in mountainous areas, especially in highlands, ethnic minority areas
of Thai Nguyen is in difficulties In this context implementing methods of povert)-reduction and combined gender equalitj' improvement is an actually reasonable way to reduce poverty effectively and sustainably The solution is to ensure synchronization and system on the basis of expansion of opportunities, access to services, risk reduction and right creation for women
To do this, then all levels and sectors need special attention to the poor women in general, including women and girls of ethnic minorities, women and disadvantaged areas and women who are the head of household because they are easily vulnerable objects Sectors, especially agriculture and rual development, education, health and localities first of all Party Committees, governments and unions at the grassroots level need to create conditions for raising awareness and changes of actions to ensure that poor women to participate and benefit as equally as men in poverty reduction from the results of the development process in general in each locality
REFERENCE
[I] DFID and UNDP 2003 Poverty Reduction in Northern Mountainous Areas (in Vietnamese) [2] The General Statistics Offlce.2006 Results of Standard of Living of Households In 2006 Some Main Results (in Vietnamese)
[3] National Committee for the Advancement of
Women in 2000 Situation Analysis and Pollq.-Recommendations on Gender Equality and Advancement of Women (in Vietnamese)
[4] Tran Thi Van Anh, Gender in poverty alleviation and Development in mountainous areas, Journal of women Vol 5, 2004 (in
Vietnamese)
[5] Truong Thi Thuy Hang, Research in Human Development Index reflecting genders in some localities Joumal of women, Vol.1, 2005 (in
Vietnamese)
Trang 5Phi Hung Cudng Tap chi KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 81(05): 79-83
TOM TAT
VAN DE GIOI TRONG XOA DOI GIAM NGHEO O MIEN NUI THAI NGUYEN
Phi Hung Cudng'*, Vu Van Anh^
' Trudng DH Khoa hoc - DH Thai Nguyen, 'Trudng DH Su phgm - DH Thai Nguyen
Van de gidi cd quan he mat thiet vdi ngheo ddi va phat trien Cac bao cao thudng nien ve phat trien con ngudi cho thay cac tinh ngheo ddng thdi cung la cac tinh cd chi sd phat trien con ngudi
va chi sd phat trien gidi thap Ngheo ddi va bat binh dang la yeu td chinh kim ham sir phai trien mien nui Thai Nguyen hien nay Hai van de nay cd mdi lien he qua lai lam cho nhimg khd khan d mien ndi them tram Irgng va khdng de khac phuc trong thdi gian ngan Vi le do, ben canh nhimg
cai thien ve nhieu mat thi cdng tac xoa ddi giam ngheo d mien ndi, dac biet ddi vdi vdng cao, vung
dan tgc thieu sd Thai Nguyen cdn gap nhieu khd khan Trong bdi canh nay, thuc hien cac bien phap xoa ddi giam ngheo cd ket hgp nang cao binh dang gidi la hudng di hgp ly nhat de giam ngheo hieu qua va ben vdng Cac gidi phap nay nham dam bao tinh ddng bg va he thdng tren co sd
md rdng co hdi, kha nang tiep can dich vu, giam rdi ro va tao quyen cho phu nu
Tu' khoa: gidi, xda doi gidm ngheo, doi ngheo, mien nid, Thdi Nguyen
Tel: 0915210558; Emad- phihungcuongtn@yahoacom