Creating funding to improve women's livelihoods from the 'Orange Bowl' campaign

Change from interest-free loan source

For Ms. Hau Thi Mi in San Bay village, Thai Giang Pho commune, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province, the 10 million VND that her family received from the interest-free loan from the project "Give a voice - More equality" from the Fund for Vietnamese stature, is like a "salvation" for the family. The income only comes from a few fields of corn on the field, the family does not have enough to eat all year round but there is no ability or way to escape poverty and hunger.

“Thanks to the loan, I built a two-compartment barn and bought piglets to raise. After a year, my pigs were sold. Not only did I recoup the loan and have money to spend on necessary household expenses, but I also continued to buy two more piglets to raise,” Ms. Mi happily said.

As a poor commune of Bac Ha district, Thai Giang Pho commune has up to 356 poor households, accounting for more than half of the total households in the commune. Most of the people do not know how to raise livestock properly, mainly feeding whatever is available, so the livestock grows slowly, is stunted and often gets sick. In parallel with loan support, the project "Contribute Voice - More Equality" has organized training courses for ethnic minority women on the topic of household livelihood improvement models; here, women have learned and practiced techniques to care for livestock to grow quickly and healthily.

“We were instructed on how to choose good breeds, how to clean the barns, and how to vaccinate the pigs to prevent diseases. Thanks to that, my pigs grew quickly and rarely got sick,” said Ms. M.

Thanks to the knowledge and skills learned from the training course, many ethnic minority women in Thai Giang Pho commune have boldly invested in expanding their barns and increasing the number of livestock. Since then, the role, position and voice of women in the family have also improved compared to before participating in the project.

As one of 15 women who received interest-free loans from the Livelihood Support Fund of the project "Give a voice - More equality" in Muong Ang, Dien Bien, Ms. Lo Thi Tien has had the opportunity to invest in developing her family's economy, buy seedlings and fertilizers to take care of her crops, bringing high productivity, creating momentum to improve her livelihood.

Sharing her joy when the family economy has more and more conditions to develop, Ms. Lo Thi Tien said: I discussed with my husband to use the loan capital to buy fertilizer, renovate the coffee garden, the rest, I buy equipment for processing and producing finished coffee at the factory. Thanks to this source of capital, women in the area have the conditions to invest in production, have income, unlike before when they often just stayed at home to take care of their children, and from there, they are more respected by their family and husband.

Also the leader of the “Sister Coffee” group, Ms. Lo Thi Tien said: Since accessing loans from the To Cam program, she and the members of the “Sister Coffee” group have had more capital to expand the factory, thereby increasing the coffee purchase output of people in the village and neighboring areas.

Livelihood support from the Orange To Campaign

The funding to support the livelihoods of ethnic minority women in difficult circumstances comes from the "To Cam - Action to End Violence Against Women and Children" campaign. This is an annual campaign jointly implemented by TH Group, Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank, UN Women and For Vietnamese Stature Fund, with the aim of raising public awareness about the issue of violence against women and children, and promoting practical actions to support victims of violence.

In 2023, TH Group contributed more than 300 million VND with nearly 500,000 TH products sold and BAC A BANK contributed more than 300 million VND through 4,762 "Nest Builders" savings books opened.

In order for the capital to be used effectively and truly benefit women, VSF has and will implement training and communication activities on gender equality, domestic violence prevention and family economic development for women and village elders/heads in the benefiting areas. To date, 15 loan packages with a total value of 300 million VND have been implemented for 15 ethnic minority women in difficult circumstances. From this capital, women in remote and mountainous areas have had additional capital to improve their families' economic life, which is very difficult. A representative of the Fund for Vietnamese Stature said: The budget to implement the Livelihood Support Fund comes from the Campaign "To Cam - Action to end violence against women and children". This loan is supported without interest, revolving to improve livelihoods and livestock and crop farming techniques for women in difficult circumstances. Up to now, 15 loan packages worth VND 150 million have been disbursed to 15 ethnic minority women in Lao Cai (VND 15 million/person); 15 loan packages worth VND 300 million have been disbursed to 15 ethnic minority women in Dien Bien province (VND 20 million/person), and 6 loan packages worth VND 300 million have been disbursed to 6 self-managed financial joint stock groups in Son La (about VND 40 million/group).

Over the past 2 years, from the Fund's activities, 180 women in difficult circumstances have received loans to increase production; 80% of households have had their income improved from the project's loans; 195 women have a more equal voice and position in their families.

The "To Cam" campaign has entered its third year, and the stories of change from previous years are the driving force for the campaign to continue spreading good meanings. Implementing this year's campaign, "To Cam" 2024 (taking place from November 20 to December 20) has not only brought about activities aimed at raising public awareness about the issue of violence against women and children. With the desire to create practical changes for victims of violence, contributing to helping them have the opportunity to rise up and stabilize their lives, the Livelihood Support Fund was deployed with practical goals: Improving the livelihoods of women who have suffered violence and are in difficult circumstances in Quang Binh district, Ha Giang province. The fund provides interest-free support, helping to reduce financial burdens; at the same time, it operates on a rotating basis, bringing opportunities to more people who have been and are victims of "gender-based violence".

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The interest-free Livelihood Support Fund is operated in a revolving manner to support disadvantaged women to improve their livelihoods, while enhancing their status and voice in the family and society. The Livelihood Support Fund is contributed by the Fund for Vietnamese Stature and BAC A BANK through the sale of orange products at TH true mart stores and the “Nguoi xay toam” savings book at BAC A BANK.