Over the past five years, provincial Women Union and its affiliates always maintained and promoted the “Women helping each other develop homebased business” movement, aiming to assist the local women to improve their lives. With the non-interest rate form, they mobilized many loan sources from money, animal feed, building materials, various food, nurslings, breeding animals…for poor women to develop homebase business with the annual mobilized money reaching over VND20bln.

Provincial Women Union and its affiliates also mobilized the local women to help each other in economic development via many models such as “charity rice jar” group, “piggy bank savings” group, “home craft development” club, “women helping each other” club…The whole province has so far set up 2,545 such groups and clubs with over 50,000 members. Over the past five years, these clubs and groups mobilized a total money of more than VND51bln, helping 16,000 women get loans for economic development.

As of April 2010, provincial Women Union and its affiliates helped more than 23,000 households to get loans on credit with the total outstanding loans of over VND291bln. More than 170,000 needy women also enjoyed various loan sources to develop homebased business with the total outstanding loans of more than VND300bln. Most of them effectively used the loans for a stable life, contributing to reducing the ratio of poor households in the province.

Tran Thi Lien, vice-chairwoman of provincial Women Union said that the annual total loans directly managed by the union and under its credit over time amounted to more than VND300bln. Provincial Women Union also had regular cooperation with the Agricultural Promotion Centers, the Farmers’ Societies…to guide the local women how to do business and give them support on technical ways in cultivation and animal husbandry... Thanks to these efforts, the local women effectively used the loans, greatly contributing to the poverty alleviation of the province.

Reported by Hong Thuan-Translated by K.T