Providing loan support to members for economic development.

Supporting women's economic development within their families is one of the key tasks of the Women's Union at all levels in the province. For many years, the Provincial Women's Union has directed its branches at all levels to implement various solutions to help and support members and women in developing their economies, escaping poverty, and achieving legitimate wealth.

Ms. Doan Thi Hien, from the women's association of Dinh Xa street, Thieu Khanh ward ( Thanh Hoa city), received a loan to expand production, creating jobs for many workers.

Recognizing the favorable conditions of a large area of ​​hilly land and a stable market, Ms. Tran Thi Vinh, from Hamlet 12, Xuan Binh Commune (Nhu Xuan District), boldly proposed to the Women's Union branch to borrow capital for production development. In 2023, the Women's Union of the commune guided Ms. Vinh's family through the procedures and secured a 50 million VND loan from the Social Policy Bank to develop a model of raising pigs, goats, chickens, and growing dragon fruit. Having overcome the capital bottleneck, Ms. Vinh's family took good care of their crops and livestock, resulting in products for sale within three months, increasing their income. Ms. Vinh shared: "Thanks to the trust and guarantee from the Women's Union of the commune, I had a place to borrow from, allowing me to focus on my business and economic development, thus stabilizing my family's life."

Ms. Doan Thi Hien, from Dinh Xa residential area, Thieu Khanh ward (Thanh Hoa City), worked as a garment factory worker for many years. In 2022, she decided to quit her job and return home to take on garment manufacturing work. Because of her experience in this trade, her designs and stitching were always trusted by her clients, but the biggest difficulty was the lack of investment capital. With encouragement and support from the Women's Union of the ward, she received a loan of 50 million VND, which allowed her to buy additional sewing machines and hire workers for garment manufacturing. She directly supervises and receives the finished products. Initially, there were only a few female workers from the village, but now there are 10 regular workers with incomes of 5 to 6 million VND per person per month or more.

Ms. Ha Thi Nhung, President of the Women's Union of Thieu Khanh Ward, said: "In the past, the Women's Union of the ward has implemented many support models to help members develop their economy in terms of capital, labor, seeds, livestock, job placement, and training in science and technology transfer... For members who need larger amounts of capital, the Women's Union will assess their actual conditions to secure additional loans from the Social Policy Bank, creating leverage to help them develop their economy effectively and sustainably."

In reality, an increasing number of poor women's households are receiving support to develop their economy, create jobs, increase income, and gradually improve their quality of life. This is also one of the key tasks of the Women's Union. This affirms the proactive and positive involvement of women's unions at all levels in the province and the determination and resolve of the members themselves. According to the report of the Provincial Women's Union, in 2024, the Provincial Women's Union secured loans from the Social Policy Bank, entrusted loans from the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, microfinance institutions, and the TYM Fund with a total outstanding loan balance of over 13 billion VND, providing loans to 198,148 women for production development; coordinated the transfer of science and technology to nearly 40,000 members; provided vocational training to more than 6,600 members; and nearly 5,000 members were referred to jobs...

The diversification of activities supporting women's economic development across multiple sectors is also integrated by women's associations at all levels with the implementation of projects such as: "Supporting women's entrepreneurship," "Supporting cooperatives managed by women and creating jobs for female workers," organizing conferences, seminars, and forums on "Connecting supply and demand, elevating agricultural products"; "Connecting businesses and cooperatives owned by women"... to increase support capital, market access, and knowledge for women to develop more sustainably. Through various forms of support and assistance to members and women, in 2024, women's associations at all levels in the province helped more than 16,200 poor and near-poor households through various means, worth over 14 billion VND; provided 215 breeding cows/buffaloes under the "Cow/Buffalo Bank" model to help members and women have production conditions; and helped more than 2,800 women escape poverty and near-poverty...

To further enhance the effectiveness of supporting women's economic development, job creation, and income increase, from the beginning of 2025, the Provincial Women's Union directed all levels of the Union to continue reviewing and accurately compiling lists of poor households, women in difficult circumstances, and households in need of loans to expand production scale... in order to plan for timely assistance. The Union encouraged all levels of the Union to actively exploit loan sources, especially maintaining domestic capital and expanding new models. In addition, the Union will continue to coordinate with relevant departments and agencies to organize vocational training activities to enable women to work and develop their economy.

Text and photos: Le Ha

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/ho-tro-von-vay-cho-hoi-vien-phat-trien-kinh-te-238916.htm