On 5th September 2016, UN Women will organize a Roundtable Discussion on Gender Equality and Climate Justice at Ha Noi to bring to the table the different actors working on climate change and disaster risk management in Viet Nam. The discussion will explore their experiences in addressing gender equality and women’s priorities in climate change and disaster response at the local and national levels and make suggestions on the way forward.

Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Phuong will be a speaker representing the grassroots women of Bac Kan province to present about climate change actions and ethnic minority issues at the Roundtable Discussion.

Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Phuong is a Dao ethnic woman who always knows how to overcome the difficulties. Born in 1962 in a family under the poverty line in Cao Bang province, she has gone through a lot of turbulence and difficulties in her life before moving together with her mother and three small children to reside at Khuoi Dac hamlet, Mai Lap commune, Cho Moi district, Bac Kan province in 2000 Meanwhile, with empty hands, her family had no land for production and cultivation, worked as a hired labour to make a living. After being supported by the Agriculture and Forestry Research & Development Center for mountainous Region (ADC) on land and forest allocation (Redbook/ Land use rights certificate), and the implementation of livelihood models, she boldly participated in planting ginger, medicinal plants intercropping with banana on the land forest where she possessed. With diligence, desire to learn and the determination to escape from poverty, she is a person who always active in learning the knowledge and gaining more experiences that the project offered right since the first year. She was elected as a leader of banana plantation interest group in Mai Lap commune since 2011. In addition, along with the development of the model of household, she actively involved in supporting women in the commune by sharing experience and guiding new techniques for model implementation and supporting free seedlings for other households to replicate the model. So far, her family has built a new house, bought a TV and motorcycle, which have made her life better and become full of happiness.

Some pictures of Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Phuong: