The grassroots women's union staff pioneers in creating change

Officials of the Women's Union of Lao Bao town, Huong Hoa district, propagate to people about preventing child marriage and incestuous marriage - Photo: TCL

Implemented in 37 communes and towns in 5 districts of the ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Quang Tri province, Project 8 aims to raise awareness, change prejudices, care for material and spiritual life, protect and care for women and children (W&C), achieve gender equality (GED) goals and focus on effectively solving some urgent issues of W&C in particularly difficult areas. This requires dedication, pioneering and commitment of the staff implementing Project 8, especially grassroots union staff.

In Krong Klang town, Dakrong district, people are familiar with the image of a young female union official, a Van Kieu ethnic, Ms. Ho Thi Luong, President of the Women's Union of Krong Klang town. Not because she speaks well or writes well, but because she understands the people, actively participates in most local activities with the community and most of all, is always there when the sisters need her.

From reconciling marital conflicts, wholeheartedly guiding women's union members in completing procedures for livelihood support, mobilizing children to go to school, organizing communication activities... Ms. Luong and the grassroots union officials are the ones who directly solve women's problems. It is from the conversations around the fire, the communication sessions at the foot of the hill, the small models in remote villages that have created silent and persistent movements.

Thanks to the grassroots women's union cadres, community intervention models in villages and hamlets are effectively operated and maintained. Up to now, the province has 171 community communication teams, 54 trusted community addresses, 30 "Leaders of Change" clubs, and all livelihood models have the active participation of union cadres who are members of the executive board and management board of the models.

In addition to organizing communication campaigns, the Women's Unions of communes and towns also proactively coordinate with local departments, branches and organizations, as well as mobilize resources from other projects to organize many meaningful activities, attract the participation and response of people, to solve existing problems at the grassroots level, contribute to the process of building new rural areas, and maintain security, order and social safety in the locality.

Following the instructions and directions of the provincial and district Women's Unions, up to now, the Women's Unions at all levels have organized 64 policy dialogue conferences between Party committees and authorities with women and people in communes and towns. This is a new and creative way of the Women's Unions at all levels to improve the capacity and skills of organizing dialogues for female cadres, at the same time, strengthening the connection between people and local authorities, creating trust and prestige of the Party and the State among the people.

Not only participating in political tasks, grassroots union officials are also pioneers in many economic development models. Ms. Ho Thi Ngam, Head of the Women's Union of Ta Lao village, Ta Long commune, Dakrong district, is the one who spreads the collective economic model with the Head of the A Lao stream community tourism cooperative group, creating jobs and income for many women to escape poverty.

In remote villages and hamlets, many women are not used to sharing, are afraid to talk about difficulties because of inferiority complex or lack of confidence, afraid of change. Therefore, association officials like Ms. Ngam must come, must "touch" trust, must be pioneers so that women can see the effectiveness and follow suit themselves. Up to now, the A Lao stream community tourism cooperative has created stable jobs for 20 women, with annual revenue of up to hundreds of millions of VND, income reaching 6 - 10 million VND/person/month.

Through the activities of Project 8, combined with emulation movements, campaigns, and breakthroughs, grassroots union officials have enthusiastically supported and specifically guided union members and women to participate in socio-economic development, sustainable poverty reduction, eliminate bad customs, change "thinking and working methods", participate in building a strong union, and together develop the homeland.

Determining the implementation capacity of the grassroots union staff determines the long-term effectiveness of the project. Right from the beginning of the implementation, the union has focused on training and improving the capacity of union staff at all levels. Specifically, from 2022 to present, the Provincial Women's Union has organized 4 training courses to guide the establishment and operation of the "Leaders of Change" Club, improving the capacity of more than 200 specialized staff at the district and commune levels, club facilitators and related sectors.

Organized a conference to improve capacity on experience in handling cases related to violence and abuse against women and children in ethnic minority areas for 55 union officials at all levels. Organized 7 training courses on skills, guidance, and preparation for commune-level dialogue for 284 provincial, district, and commune officials.

To improve the capacity of organizing dialogues for union officials at all levels, the Provincial Women's Union organized 6 training courses on monitoring and evaluating the implementation of gender equality for nearly 500 officials from relevant departments and branches, and union officials at all levels. The district Women's Union also organized 4 training courses on gender equality for 290 union officials at all levels and village and hamlet chiefs, prestigious people in the community, and 1 training course on guiding the monitoring and evaluation of gender equality implementation and solving urgent problems for ethnic minority and mountainous women and children for 117 people.

Chairwoman of the Dakrong District Women's Union Nguyen Thi Ty shared: "Determining that grassroots union officials are the core team, directly implementing Project 8 activities in the community, and at the same time having a significant impact on the effectiveness of the project, right from the beginning of the phase, the District Women's Union has focused on organizing many training courses and conferences to improve the skills of this team. The grassroots women's union is not only the place to receive plans and policies, but also the lever for policies to become actions, so that each way of thinking and doing in the community gradually changes positively."

Tran Cat Linh

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/doi-ngu-can-bo-hoi-phu-nu-co-so-tien-phong-tao-thay-doi-193790.htm