Accompanying women in the border areas to rise up

Through practical actions and effective support models, the "Accompanying Women in Border Areas" program, jointly implemented by the Quang Tri Border Guard Command and the Provincial Women's Union, has contributed to helping many women's households in border areas develop their economy and alleviate poverty. This has also raised awareness and responsibility among the people in jointly participating in protecting the nation's borders.

Ms. Ho Thi Huong is happy to be supported with a breeding cow to develop the family economy - Photo: LE TRUONG

A few years ago, Ho Thi Huong's family in Thanh 1 village, Thanh commune, Huong Hoa district faced many difficulties in economic development. The whole family relied on a small area of ​​cassava and banana plantation, so the couple struggled to raise 4 children to study. In 2022, the "Accompanying Women in the Border Areas" program supported her family with a breeding cow worth 10 million VND.

After a period of care, the cow is now growing rapidly, promising to create a stable source of income for Ms. Huong's family. "I am very happy, because my family has many children but I don't know what to rely on for income. Since receiving support for a cow, the local government and border guards have often come to guide me on how to raise, care for and grow elephant grass as food for the cow. I will raise the cow well so that it can reproduce more to help my family escape poverty," Ms. Huong confided.

According to Ms. Ho Thi Te, Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Thanh commune, Thanh is one of the border communes of Huong Hoa district, mainly inhabited by the Van Kieu ethnic minority, facing many economic difficulties. The commune currently has 533 female members, of which 375 are classified as poor or extremely disadvantaged households. However, in recent years, many women's households have learned how to do business and rise out of poverty thanks to support models from the "Accompanying Women in Border Areas" program.

Specifically, from 2022 to 2024, the locality received support for 10 livelihood models involving cattle, goat, and pig farming; the construction of a charitable house worth 60 million VND; and 15 hygienic toilet construction projects with a budget of over 90 million VND. Annually, through the program, the Border Guard Force, in coordination with philanthropists, donated hundreds of gifts and scholarships to poor women's association members, families in difficult circumstances, and policy beneficiary families... with a total value of over 700 million VND.

"Thanks to the program's support, the lives of many women in border areas have been dramatically changed. This partnership has motivated and empowered women to strive for a better future, while also helping them learn how to create sustainable livelihoods, thereby joining hands with border guards to firmly protect the nation's territorial sovereignty ," Ms. Te shared.

“Accompanying Women in Border Areas” is a program implemented under a coordinated plan between the Vietnam Women's Union and the Border Guard Command. In Quang Tri , after more than 3 years of implementation, the Provincial Women's Union and the Quang Tri Border Guard have mobilized resources to organize many meaningful activities such as: donating public works, livelihood models, training to improve the capacity of officials, raising knowledge for people, and giving gifts during holidays and Tet (Lunar New Year) in border communes in the two mountainous districts of Dakrong and Huong Hoa.

Thereby, contributing to changing the way of thinking and working of women in remote and border areas so that they can rise up and assert themselves, actively contributing to socio-economic development and border protection in the area.

In particular, in the period from 2021 to 2023, the two units organized the programs "Spring on the border - full of love", "Humane Tet - Border spring warms the hearts of the villagers", "Spring on the border - Loving Tet" with a total value of more than 3 billion VND.

In addition, with the goal of socio-economic development, promoting hunger eradication and poverty reduction combined with ensuring national defense and security, in recent years, the Quang Tri Border Guard and the Provincial Women's Union have always focused on improving the lives of people in border areas in general and female members in particular.

Notably, in the past 3 years, the program "Accompanying women in the border areas" has coordinated with units, organizations and kind-hearted individuals to support 17 charity houses, 5 hygienic toilets and 63 livelihood models for raising cows and goats for breeding; sent messages of support, gave gifts to poor women's association members and scholarships to poor students in difficult circumstances, children of border guards working in border areas with an estimated budget of over 1.3 billion VND.

Furthermore, the two units have effectively coordinated and maintained programs such as "Helping Children Go to School - Children Adopted by Border Guard Posts," "Border Guard Spring - Warming the Hearts of the People in Border Villages," "Soup of Love," and "Bread of Love," mobilizing tens of billions of VND to care for the lives of people in border areas. In 2024 alone, the Provincial Women's Union and the Border Guard Command of Quang Tri organized social welfare activities, livelihood support, and the construction of practical projects to help women in border communes with a total budget of over 1.76 billion VND.

In addition, the program "Accompanying women in border areas" also focuses on coordinating and mobilizing women to participate in managing and protecting territorial sovereignty and security and order in border areas. Specifically, border guards have installed 100 "Crime reporting mailboxes" in community learning centers in villages and hamlets; effectively implementing Directive 01 of the Prime Minister on "Organizing a mass movement to participate in protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security in the new situation". Thanks to that, over the past 3 years, 854 cases/719 violators have been detected for timely handling and deterrence.

With practical and meaningful activities, the program "Accompanying women in the border areas" has shown the affection, responsibility, and joint actions towards the people in the border areas of the green-uniformed soldiers and the Provincial Women's Union. The practical effectiveness of the program has lit a fire for the border areas, contributing to the construction of increasingly prosperous new rural mountainous areas, and maintaining border security.

Le Truong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/dong-hanh-de-phu-nu-bien-cuong-vuon-len-190625.htm