On 5th September 2016, UN Women organized a Roundtable Discussion at the Green One UN House in Hanoi on Climate Action: Women hold the key. The Discussion was attended by High-level Speakers, representatives of Grassroots women, local government and NGOs. The representatives shared and discussed the role of women in the activities to respond to climate change and disaster risk management in Vietnam

At the Roundtable Discussion, Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Phuong, representative of grassroots women of Bac Kan province, shared about the actual status of climate change actions and ethnic minority issues in Bac Kan province.

Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Phuong at the Roundtable Discussion (Source: https://dantri4.vcmedia.vn/thumb_w/640/2016/anh1-06092016-1473116205960.jpg)

 

Tran Thi Kim Phuong, 54, is a Dao woman from Cao Bang. She moved to Cho Moi district, Bac Kan province in 2000, starting a new life with empty hands. At the time, Phuong had a big burden to take care of an old mother and three children while her husband passed away. Phuong had no land. The only way for her to earn living was working for the others in the area.

Her life changed when land allocation process took place in her area. She was allocated with forest land with red book certificate. She planted crops but the outcomes were not very good, even sometimes she lost all crops due to impacts of climate change, especially during long drought season. Maize, an important crop for people in the area, could not stand for long. Other crops and plants were negatively affected during the drought time.

In 2010, CARE international in Vietnam and ADC conducted surveys to assess communities' needs including gender issues. It released that there was a great potential for local women to develop and increase their economic position if they were empowered and if local initiatives and experiences in agricultural production and climate change adaptation were applied. Thus with the support of the two organizations, community-based climate resilient livelihood models initiated by local ethnic minority women were established in Bac Kan province. Phuong was selected to conduct a pilot model of ginger and medicinal plants intercropping with banana, which adapted very well with climate and drought in her area. Participating in the project, Phuong was supported with fertilizer and seedlings for the very first crop and techniques during her plantation. Succeed of the model helped her earning money to improve her living condition and raising family.

As an active learner and with her diligence and determination to escape poverty, Phuong quickly absorbed information and new knowledge and soon she became a leader of an interest group in banana plantation in Mai Lap commune, Cho Moi district in 2011. Phuong also shared her knowledge with other women in her commune and provided free seedlings for other households to replicate the models. Phuong now earns enough money to raise her family. Her children are now able to go to school. She built a new house, bought a TV and now has a motorcycle. She is happy now.

 CARE International in Vietnam and ADC have worked in Cho Moi district, Bac Kan province since 2007 to support land allocation, agro-forestry extension services and climate change adaptation to support ethnic minority women to improve their economic status and increase their voice in the society.