Entrepreneurship in the territories: is it the right time?
EMPOWERING PROJECT
Empowering Ethnic Minority Women for Improved Management of Pu Luong Natural Reserve (EMPOWERING) project, funded by European Union and ALSTOM Foundation, aims to
- Improve conservation of Pu Luong Natural Reserve.
- Reduce poverty among ethnic minority women of Ba Thuoc and Quan Hoa districts have decreased.
- Increase women’s influence, in all their diversity, in decision-making processes on environmental conservation and climate change policies and actions.
Through 4 component:
- Output 1- Biodiversity and climate change issues are mainstreamed in the local tourism strategies
- Output 2 - Women's economic activities related to sustainable development, are enhanced
- Output 3 - Ethnic minority women in the core and buffer zone are strengthened with capacities and confident to promote better environmental and gender-responsive practices to mitigate socio-economic impacts on biodiversity in the Natural Reserve.
- Output 4 - Green Label certification system is developed by the district authorities to promote responsible production and consumption in community-based tourism sector for improvement of competitiveness and sustainable enhancement of environmental values and biodiversity protection in the Natural Reserve
An environmental and socio-economic baseline study was recently conducted in the project area, including an initial analysis of gender issues. This study identified:
- deeply rooted gender social norms (female domestic roles, male leadership, etc.)
- a gendered division of labor in economic activities
- inequalities in access to resources, assets, and decision-making
- variations according to age and ethnicity
It also highlighted that, despite strong participation of women in productive activities, their decisionmaking power and control over resources remain limited.
However, these findings remain general and descriptive and do not directly inform targeted project actions.
