Building a team of female party members in ethnic minority areas

Overcoming specific difficulties in terms of geographical location, terrain, socio-economic conditions, and customs, Party committees at all levels in Lai Chau province focus on finding suitable solutions for each base and each locality, and doing a good job of developing Party members, especially female Party members.

Only consider solutions, not difficulties

Implementing Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW, dated June 16, 2022 of the Central Executive Committee on strengthening, consolidating, building grassroots party organizations and improving the quality of party members in the new period, Lai Chau Provincial Party Committee issued Action Program No. 24-Ctr/TU, dated October 17, 2022, setting out four groups of goals and five groups of specific tasks and solutions. In particular, the Provincial Party Committee directed to promote the work of developing party members and to date, many goals by 2025 have been completed. The annual rate of new party members in the period of 2020-2025 reached more than 1,000 party members (reaching a rate of 3-4%/year).

According to Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Board Mac Quang Manh, achieving the target of recruiting 3-4% of party members per year is a very difficult task because the source of party members is getting smaller and smaller, while the number of party members that need to be recruited is increasing. Lai Chau has a large area, fragmented terrain, and a sparse population, so the difficulties are multiplied many times. For ethnic minority areas, creating sources and recruiting female party members still faces many obstacles, especially in rural party cells.

This reality has many causes such as: Women have not had full access to education , affecting their ability to meet the standards for party admission; young female union members who meet the standards work far away and hardly participate in local activities; the masses are female ethnic minorities who do not work far away but get married early; the community does not have enough understanding, sharing, and sympathy for women participating in social work... To overcome these difficulties, comrade Mac Quang Manh affirmed: "The Provincial Party Committee has clearly identified the spirit of "only considering solutions, not counting difficulties", resolutely directing Party committees and organizations at all levels to develop implementation plans and make efforts to achieve the set targets".

Implementing the direction of Lai Chau Provincial Party Committee, Tam Duong District Party Committee focuses on developing party members in general and female party members in particular. Up to now, Tam Duong District Party Committee has 2,801 party members, of which 1,517 are ethnic minorities and 980 are female party members. In Giang Ma, the commune has about 4,000 people, the educational level is uneven, the economy is mainly from agriculture, people's lives have many difficulties. This is one of the obstacles in socio-economic development and Party building work, developing new party members in the locality. To develop party members, every year Giang Ma Commune Party Committee builds a party member development plan, in which, focusing on developing female party members, rural areas and party cells with few party members.

Regarding specific methods, the Commune Party Committee thoroughly grasped the Provincial Party Committee's guidelines, assigned the target of admitting Party members to each grassroots Party cell, directed the People's Committee and mass organizations to focus on reviewing and creating sources of admission from the village and hamlet levels, including cadres, union members, women's union members, farmer union members, militia forces, especially ethnic minority female masses; sent outstanding female union members to attend Party awareness training classes. From there, there was a plan to train and help female masses to be admitted to the Party soon. According to this method, despite many difficulties, the number of Party members in general and female Party members in particular in Giang Ma commune increased, both ensuring the quantitative target and contributing to improving the quality of local Party members. Up to now, the Commune Party Committee has 158 Party members, of which 59 are female.

Understand each facility, grasp each location

Overcoming difficulties in the task of developing party members, Lai Chau Provincial Party Committee determined that it was necessary to grasp and understand each base and each locality to find appropriate solutions and overcome difficulties. Sharing more about this solution, Deputy Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Committee Mac Quang Manh said: The districts in Lai Chau have large areas, with communes hundreds of kilometers away from the center, so opening classes to foster awareness of the Party for the masses has many shortcomings. Moreover, for female masses, especially female masses with families, attending classes far away is even more difficult. Understanding and grasping these difficulties of the base, the Provincial Party Committee immediately had the solution of opening classes in clusters and communes, bringing lecturers from the political center to a commune, then inviting masses from surrounding communes to study, creating convenience for students in remote communes with difficult transportation.

Overcoming difficulties in the task of developing party members, Lai Chau Provincial Party Committee determined that it must grasp and understand each base and each locality to find appropriate solutions and overcome difficulties.

Along with understanding the base and the locality, direct involvement from village and hamlet party cells is important, especially the role of village and hamlet party cell secretaries. Ban Hon commune (Tam Duong district) has eight villages, mainly inhabited by the Lu ethnic group - an ethnic group with very few people. The appearance of Ban Hon is changing every day, all villages and hamlets have car roads, and people's lives are gradually improving. Ban Hon commune Party Committee has 13 affiliated party cells, including eight rural party cells, with 197 party members. From 2022 to now, Ban Hon commune Party Committee has admitted 23 party members, reaching a rate of 3.8%, completing the set target. A very notable point in the party member development work of Ban Hon commune Party Committee is that for the first time, the Party Committee has admitted five female party members of ethnic minorities in rural party cells.

To achieve this encouraging result, the Commune Party Committee and the Party Secretary have devoted much effort and enthusiasm. Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Council of Ban Hon Commune, Nguyen Van Thuan, said: "The biggest obstacle in admitting female party members is the "deeply rooted" male-dominated ideology, limiting women's efforts and participation in political and social activities. To admit five female party members, in rural Party cells, the Ban Hon Commune Party Committee assigned party members to diligently help, mobilize, persuade, and create conditions for the masses to participate in social activities in the village, creating opportunities for female masses to demonstrate their responsibility to the community. The process of mobilization and persuasion is regular, continuous, and undaunted, following the direction of "slow and steady wins the race", both caring and sharing difficulties and propagating and guiding the masses to raise awareness and voluntarily apply to join the Party."

Sung Thi Chua has been the female Party Secretary of Ho Ta village (Ta Mung commune, Than Uyen district) since 2021, and also the Head of the Women's Association. Becoming a Party member at the age of 25, Chua is active in the common activities of the village and hamlet, helping many other people to be admitted to the Party. Ho Ta village Party Cell has three female Party members out of nine Party members. Always struggling and wishing to admit more female Party members to her Party Cell, Secretary Chua confided: "Admitting female Party members in rural Party Cells has long been a very difficult task due to gender prejudices, especially the pressure from the husbands and their families of the female masses. There are many female masses who want to participate in social activities in the village and hamlet and want to become Party members, but their husbands and their families do not allow it."

According to Secretary Chua, the most practical and effective way to increase the number of female party members is to make a list of the masses who have the desire and aspiration to join the Party, focusing on female masses, regularly reviewing and persistently mobilizing and propagating until the masses and their families change their awareness.

Creating sources and recruiting female party members helps to enhance the leadership role and voice of women in the community, and strengthen gender equality. The effective methods of the Party Committees at all levels in Lai Chau need to continue to be maintained and promoted, while at the same time creating new solutions that are suitable to local realities, further developing the contingent of female party members in both quantity and quality.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/xay-dung-doi-ngu-dang-vien-nu-vung-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-post875367.html