Ethnic minorities zhongwen

Photos call on ethnic minority people to take action against COVID-19

March 1, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

Two ethnic minority girls wear masks while selling flowers to tourists at Tham Ma slope, northern mountain Hà Giang province. (Photo courtesy of the MoH)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Health and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have called on people to take action to prevent COVID-19 pandemic for sustainable economic development through a photo series about the lives of ethnic minority traders in the northern mountain province of Ha Giang.

The photo series is part of a project on strengthening communication about COVID-19 prevention in the new normal for small businesses run by ethnic minorities in the province.

The project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health, UNDP in Vietnam and the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam with an aim of implementing sustainable development goals towards fairness and equality in healthcare among ethnic groups in the country. It includes a series of communication activities that aim to enhance knowledge, understanding and changes in action and habits of people to stop the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among ethnic minorities.

The project’s activities have approached a large number of local officials, health workers, trade unions and small traders in four districts of Meo Vac, Dong Van, Quan Ba and Yen Minh, and Ha Giang city.

The project helped local authorities have more essential resources to conduct disease prevention and control and provide local people, especially ethnic traders, with access to healthcare services and knowledge about disease prevention methods.

This will help to reduce the negative effects of COVID-19, so that people can continue to develop economically and sustainably, stabilise their lives and overcome difficulties such as farmland shortages, lack of domestic water and harsh natural conditions.

The series of photos was taken in late 2020 and early 2021 in four highlands districts: Dong Van, Meo Vac, Yen Minh and Quang Ba, which are the poorest localities and the most inhabited by Mong ethnic people. The series displays the daily work of traders, especially when they have taken preventive measures for protecting the health and safety of each individual and the community.

As part of the project, ethnic minorities of Dong Van district were given knowledge and provided with practical guidance on pandemic prevention and control.

With the support of local health workers, people have started disease prevention activities, such as wearing masks, washing hands with antiseptic, sanitising their homes and ensuring personal hygiene in work and daily life.

The photo series also showed local people in tourism development associated with preserving and promoting national cultural values./.

VNA

Ethnic minority man preserves valuable medicinal herbs

February 15, 2021 by sggpnews.org.vn

For years, the Dao ethnic minority group in Nam Dam Village are familiar with the medicinal properties of plants growing close to their homes, in the open fields, waste lands and the nearby forests. They have used these herbs for remedies for their families and for sale in a local market.

Gradually, valuable medicinal herbs have gone extinct; therefore, creating awareness among local communities on the urgent need of conservation of medicinal plants.

Ly Ta Den, a Dao ethnic man, has initially collected natural medicinal herbs for processing into products to serve visitors to Dong Van rocky plateau. Later, he found out that many of the herbs have been facing extinction for overexploitation, he was determined to set up a cooperative with the participation of 29 members to grow and process medicinal products, providing services like medicinal herbal baths, saunas, accommodations for tourists and tourism services in 2014.

The establishment of the cooperative aims to conserve rare herbs and help locals to fight against poverty.

In the early time, the co-operative has been bumping in difficulties due to lack of capital and experience in harvesting and processing. Half yearly, most people wanted to withdraw their capital from the co-operative, leaving only seven people involved as the cooperative couldn’t sell its products resulting in dispirited members who took their capital back; therefore, the cooperative’s capital was only around VND200 million (US$8,723).

But, with valuable medicinal herbs sources in nature and his desire to take advantage of the mountains and forests to improve the lives of people in upland areas, Den and the rest of the members were not discouraged but kept the faith.

Den traveled to the Pharmacy University in Hanoi to seek assistance where lecturers gave him training on production procedure of plants. He also linked with pharmaceutical companies for consultation of technologies in processing herbs and consumption of the cooperative’s products. Furthermore, to ensure the supply of medicinal herbs and preserve the precious medicinal herbs, the cooperative worked with the Center for Research and Development of Vietnamese Traditional Medicinal Plants to implement the project ‘Preserving genetic resources of precious medicinal plants of the ethnic Dao people’.

The cooperative expanded its nursery area up to 3,000sq.m for species-oriented cultivating and domesticating of rare and endangered medicinal plants in a protected area which is keeping more than 100 species of valuable medicinal herbs such as cucumber, artichoke and honeysuckle, rhubarb root, tuberose and some other plants in traditional remedies of the Dao ethnic people.

The nursery garden can provide enough seeds for the cooperative and local people. Ly Ta Den also encouraged the cooperative’s members to grow medicinal properties of plants in their open fields based on guided techniques and sell them back to the co-operative. After having a stable source of raw materials, the co-operative has invested in building a drying area, a processing factory and a system of machinery for distilling essential herbal extracts. The cooperative also built tobacco baths, a system of preliminary processing and pharmaceutical processing factories on an area of more than 4,000sq.m with a total investment of some VND2 billion (US$86,100).

Ly Ta Den and the cooperative’s members have brought their products to introduce at agriculture and medicine fairs and expos countrywide. In addition to provision of medicinal products made from traditional rare plants, the cooperative has also introduced and displayed its products to tourist destinations.

Moreover, Den has created a QR code for products of the cooperative and signed contracts with enterprises to open store chains to sell herbal medicines in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as well as sell online. Old members of the cooperative who had withdrawn their money asked to join in again when they saw the development of the cooperative, bringing the members up to 25 who have donated their fields to grow medicinal plants.

After nearly six years of operation, the co-operative has created a brand name for the products and business activities are stable. The co-operative has invested in building relatively complete infrastructure systems, increasing revenue from production, preliminary processing of medicinal herbs, and most importantly, the cooperative’s products have won the trust from customers. Each year, the co-operative develops from five to 10 hectares to make more than 200 tons of raw materials and sells many products including artichoke glue and ginger tea achieving three stars in the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program.

The cooperative’s present revenue is around VND1.3 billion and profit increases by 20 percent, its members receive a monthly salary of VND3 million – VND4 million a person. The cooperative’s shareholders get dividend at the end of every year. Ly Ta Den’s dream to convert his hometown into a center for preservation of Dao ethnic minority’s medicinal herbs has come true.

More and more tourists have flocked to the village to enjoy medicinal herbs. The living condition of locals has gradually improved thanks to the preservation of medicinal plants and opening of tourism services. Nineteen households in the village are ready to serve over 190 holidaymakers a day.

By Tran Lam – Translated by Uyen Phuong

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Ethnic minority man preserves valuable medicinal herbs medicinal herbs One Commune One Product (OCOP) program

Bac Lieu attracting foreign investment for ethnic minority areas

March 4, 2021 by en.vietnamplus.vn

In Bac Lieu (Photo: VNA)

Bac Lieu (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu is attracting foreign investment and experience to support the socio-economic development of ethnic minorities .

By 2025, the province will draw official development assistance (ODA) and preferential loans, especially non-refundable aid, for socio-economic development in ethnic minority areas based on demand and potential and on the principle of preserving and upholding traditional cultural identities and protecting the environment.

It will give priority to dealing with shortages of land, housing, and water for daily use among ethnic minority households; and developing agro-forestry and investing in key infrastructure, education, scientific research and technological transfer in production connectivity models via value chains.

Further attention will also be paid to healthcare, child malnutrition prevention, gender equality, and addressing urgent problems faced by women and children.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Phan Thanh Duy said the province will work closely with the Central Steering Committee on the National Target Programme on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority Areas, the Coordinating Office of the programme, and ministries and agencies to identify demand for international investment and ensure openness and transparency.

Bac Lieu attracting foreign investment for ethnic minority areas hinh anh 2

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

It will also offer all possible support in terms of policies, mechanisms, land, and human resources to facilitate foreign investment.

Priority will be given in site clearance, vocational training, the implementation of signed international agreements, conventions and contracts, and the expansion of international cooperation, to seek new partners.

Each year, the province will add more capital to build projects, hold exchanges with stakeholders, and raise funds from domestic and foreign sponsors for the effort./.

VNA

Ethnic-minority students benefit from STEM education

March 7, 2021 by dtinews.vn

Lùng Thị Hoài, a Nùng ethnic minority student of Nàn Sán Secondary School, uses equipment to show off electric fireworks she and her peers made to celebrate the 2021 STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) festival in Si Ma Cai District, the northern mountainous province of Lào Cai.

Lùng Thị Hoài (second, left) and her electric firework device in 2021 STEM festival in Si Ma Cai District, the northern mountainous province of Lào Cai. Photo khoahocphattrien.vn

STEM is an approach to learning and development that integrates science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Students are expected to develop their skills through STEM education including problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, decision making and acceptance of failure.

Hundreds of students in the district have benefited from STEM education.

This was the first year the STEM festival had been held in the district – one of the poorest districts of the country after the provincial Department of Education and Training Department issued a document to instruct the implementation of STEM education in secondary schools in September 2020.

Nguyễn Thị Kiều Oanh, head of the district’s Education and Training Office, said officials of the department had visited many localities to plan the festival.

The festival was not only a chance for the students to show off the electric firework device but also run toy cars on race tracks using kinetic energy, Khoa học và Phát Triển (Science and Development) online newspaper reported.

Also at the festival, the office invited two students in Lý Tự Trọng Secondary School in the province’s Lào Cai City to operate a robot, programmed by them, Oanh said.

The two students won the first prize in the robotics competition in the north, held by the Central Youth Union in November 2020, she added.

Oanh said the office wanted students in Nàn Sán Secondary School to do more in the next festivals, such as programming robots like the students in Lý Tự Trọng Secondary School in Lào Cai City did.

To do that, the office plans to hold a training course for programming robots for both teachers and students in a total of eight schools in the district this month, she said.

The training course will be organised with the support of teachers in Lào Cai City and the STEM Alliance, she said.

Established in 2015, the STEM Alliance – an organisation dedicated to connecting volunteers participating in STEM promotion activities – has trained some 10,000 general teachers about STEM education and helped establish more than 500 STEM clubs across the country, especially in rural areas.

The alliance also plays an important role in organising six National STEM Festivals and five Open Math Festivals.

STEM universal education

The district administration issued Project No 04- DA/HU on July 31, 2020, on improving the quality of education and training for 2020-25. The project aims to promote STEM education at all schools in the district.

The move came under the goal of STEM universal education of the provincial education sector.

Over the past five years, the provincial education sector has conducted many STEM education training programmes for thousands of teachers.

The education sector has also set up STEM advisory groups for all levels of the education sector to build a formal system of STEM education.

To do that, the provincial education sector has received support from experienced STEM educators such as Đặng Văn Sơn of Hà Nội National University, Hoàng Vân Đông of Electricity University, Dương Tuấn Hưng of Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology, Lê Chí Ngọc and Hàn Huy Dũng of Hà Nội University of Technology.

Socio-economic development and defence and security assurance in ethnic minority and mountainous areas

January 31, 2021 by en.nhandan.org.vn

The Party and State always pay special attention to socio-economic development and defence and security assurance in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas. The Party’s and State’s important decisions have been a strong driving force in boosting the socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, contributing to fulfilling the set targets during 2016-2020 period.

The main results achieved in socio-economic development and defence and security assurance in ethnic minority and northern areas during the 2016-2020 period were the synchronous investment in the economic and technical infrastructure in difficult areas; and the impressive achievements in the work of hunger eradication and poverty reduction highly appreciated by international friends. In addition, the programme of building new-style rural area has achieved encouraging initial results. The education and vocational training in ethnic minority and mountainous areas has increasingly developed in all terms of scale, connectivity and quality. The healthcare for people has been focused in terms of networking, equipment and staff, so the quality of medical examination and treatment has seen positive changes. The preservation and promotion of good cultural values of ethnic minority groups has achieved clearer results. The planning, education and arrangement of the contingent of ethnic minority cadres and civil servants have been boosted. Security and defence in these areas has been strengthened; meanwhile, political security and social order and safety have been maintained.

From the reality during 2016-2020, the following lessons have been drawn:

Firstly, it is crucial to be steadfast and persistent in the implementation of the Party’s and State’s consistent policies that all groups are equal and should unite, respect and help together to develop; taking care of ethnic affairs is the responsibility of the entire Party, people and army as well as of agencies at all levels and the whole political system.

Secondly, it is essential to enhance the propaganda and communications in ethnic minority groups and mountainous areas to promptly convey the Party’s guidelines and State’s policies and laws to them. In addition, the investment resources for socio-economic development should be strengthened towards improving livelihoods and sustainable poverty reduction. The authorities need to pay much attention to consolidating and maintaining the ethnic minority people’s trust in the Party and State.

Thirdly, the training and effective arrangement of ethnic minority cadres and civil servants as well as the development of Party members and the cause of building Party and political system at grassroots levels should be enhanced. It is necessary to uphold the role of reputable people among ethnic minorities.

The general direction and goals on ethnic affairs and socio-economic development in ethnic minority groups and mountainous areas during 2021-2025, which was highlighted in the draft Political Report, received high agreement. The agencies and units from the central to local and grassroots levels will continue to innovate their thinking and make high determination, great efforts and drastic actions to implement synchronously and effectively eight groups of major missions and solutions:

1. Consistently and persistently implementing the Party’s views and guidelines; the 9th Party Central Committee’s Resolution No.24-NQ/TW ,dated on March 12, 2003, on ethnic work in the new situation and the 12th Politburo’s Conclusion No.65-KL/TW, dated on October 30, 2018, on continuing to implement the Resolution No.24-NQ/TW. Accordingly, the great unity among ethnic groups continues to be a strategic position; a long-term and an urgent task; and the responsibility of the whole Party, people, army and political system.

2. Continuing to perfect and develop the policies related to socio-economic development in ethnic minority groups and mountainous areas in a comprehensive and sustainable manner; promoting the potential and advantages; and sparking the spirit of self-reliance and the aspiration to overcome difficulties among ethnic minority people.

3. Improving the efficiency of programmes to expand preferential credit capital for projects that create livelihoods for people; diversifying and socialising the resources, of which State resources playing an important and decisive role in mobilising other resources.

4. Stepping up economic restructuring towards commodity production in line with the customs of each minority group. Developing specialised farming areas of crops and animals with high quality. Focusing on developing ecotourism in association with preservation and promotion of cultural values of ethnic minority groups.

5. Synchronously developing social and cultural fields in the ethnic minority groups and mountainous areas.

6. Building all-people national defence and security postures in association with people’s hearts; resolutely not allowing “hot spots” and “complicated spots” on security and order, especially in strategic areas of the northwest, central highlands, southwest and central coastal region.

7. Paying strong attention to training and developing ethnic minority Party members, notably in key, difficult and border areas. Honouring and encouraging reputable people, businessmen and scientists who have made great contributions to the cause of national construction and defence.

8. Highly concentrating on the successful implementation of the national target programme for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas during 2021-2030 period. Renovating organisational models of apparatus, functions and tasks of State management agencies on ethnic affairs, meeting requirements and missions in the new situation.

New vitality in Lam Dong’s ethnic minority areas

January 31, 2021 by en.nhandan.org.vn

Q: How do you evaluate and feel about the changes in Lam Dong’s ethnic minority areas?

A: As the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Council, I have the opportunity to go to the grassroots and meet with local villagers. I was very happy as elders and prestigious people in villages said: “Lam Dong no longer has places which are truly isolated and remote.” Brief as it is, the statement has demonstrated the remarkable transformation in the previously disadvantaged areas of the province. The quality transport system has now covered all localities, with car roads having been developed to the centre of communes. Together with asphalted and concrete roads, all villages in Lam Dong have been connected to the national power grid, as well as healthcare, post and television services. In addition, each ethnic minority commune in the province has its own kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools, ensuring schooling opportunities for all school-age children.

Although life for some in ethnic minority communities still remains difficult, generally significant changes have now been recorded in once disadvantaged areas. Lam Dong currently has 104 out of 111 communes and three districts recognised as new-style rural areas. The many extremely difficult communes having met new rural standards is a miracle. The rate of poor households among Lam Dong’s ethnic minority communities has now declined to only 3.58% from 19.1% five years ago.

Q: What are the key factors attributing to such significant improvement?

A: The direction and support from central ministries and agencies, the efforts made by all-level Party committees and authorities, and the people’s consensus and awareness to rise above have helped to bring a new look to Lam Dong’s disadvantaged and ethnic minority areas. The people’s lives have increasingly improved. In particular, the people’s awareness to rise above and the appropriate measures of localities are considered the radical factors driving previously needy areas in the province towards rapid and sustainable development.

Today, ethnic minorities in Lam Dong are very interested in gaining new information and knowledge for economic development, integrating into the modern life but still preserving and promoting their traditional cultural identities. Notably, they always uphold the spirit of solidarity and mutual sharing in economic development and building an increasingly civilised life. In addition, in recent times, greater attention has been paid to supporting the development of ethnic minority areas, with a large number of projects and programmes having been implemented. In the last five years, the total investment in extremely difficult and ethnic minority areas in Lam Dong has reached more than VND3.7 trillion (US$160.7 million), with VND1.9 trillion directly sourced from the state budget and 115 projects with investment from non-state sources. The province has developed a rapid and sustainable poverty reduction project for 29 communes and 97 villages which have a poverty rate of over 30%, in order to better implement poverty reduction in disadvantaged localities.

Developing ethnic minority human resources is also an important “key” in the development process in Lam Dong’s needy and ethnic minority areas. The province currently has more than 4,000 Party members who are ethnic minority people, making up over 10% of the total Party members. Lam Dong’s Party committees and authorities at all levels have always given care to training, developing and appointing people from ethnic minorities as cadres and civil servants.

Thank you very much!