Duration: 2017-2019

• Bac Kan, Cao Bang, and Dien Bien

Main objectives: The overall objective of this project is that civil society organisations, especially the Network of Northern Mountainous Civil Society Organizations for Sustainable Community Development in Vietnam, known as NorthNet, and its 11 CSO members, legitimately represent ethnic minority communities to enhance government transparency and accountability for promoting ethnic minority rights. Following this, the three specific objectives mirror the theory of change will be implemented by focusing on:

• The capacity of civil society organisations to represent ethnic minorities and work in alliances,
• The empowerment of ethnic minority women to access information, and
• The capacity of government to implement the Law on Access to Information and fulfil the rights of citizens.

Focus group discussion on the information access demand of ethnic minority women 

Expected outcomes:

• NorthNet, as a civil society organisation, will have improved capacity as a network in areas related to coordination, external relations, and strategic information sharing. It will likewise be more representative in terms of ethnicity and gender.
• Targeted government authorities will have increased capacity to respond to community requests for information as a result of good governance training, dialogues, involvement in activities, and advocacy.
• Through LARC group membership, ethnic minority women build relations with other women and with the local authorities, which increases their social capital. Moreover, they will gain increased confidence and agency to speak their minds and request information from authorities about health or agriculture services, socio-economic development plans, or other government programmes and policies that concern them.
• Social and cultural perceptions about ethnic minorities and women in the community and within the government will change as more ethnic minority women leaders emerge and as different stakeholders (authorities and women’s husbands) are facilitated to challenge gender norms in society through SAA participation.
• This project will have a concrete policy level impact on the implementation of the Law on Access to Information (with effect from 2018). The supported civil society organisations will therefore have a unique opportunity to influence the guidelines (e.g. decrees) and methods (e.g. community radio, bi-lingual dialogues) for how to implement the law in a way that is cost-effective and at the same time benefits ethnic minorities, and particularly women, in remote areas.
• The project will seek to influence other relevant policy processes related to access to information, including the Law on Associations (legal framework regulating the operations of civil society), the Law on Ethnic Minorities and the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction.
• The alliance building between civil society organisations at national level will also contribute to wider policy level impact as civil society will have a stronger and more coordinated voice in policy discussions.

Interviewing ethnic minority women about the information access demand