By Stephen Robson
HANOI — The introduction of private enterprises has adversely affected women here. Of some 700,000 people who have lost their jobs in the state sector, two-thirds are women.
Creches and kindergartens have deteriorated and disappeared in some cases. Health conditions have also declined.
These developments follow a sharp drop in trade and assistance from the Soviet Union and eastern Europe.
The Women's Union and other bodies are discussing and developing responses to this situation. In May 1992, the Seventh National Congress of Vietnamese Women was held in Hanoi.
The Women's Union is represented on four levels: local, district, provincial and national. In each village there is a women's group, and a women's chapter in each of the 12,000 communes throughout the country. National membership is now up to 11 million. Membership fees are 200 dong/month, though those with higher income pay more.
Provincial women's congresses are attended by delegates from the districts; from these bodies the 700 delegates were elected to the national conference.
The weekly review Women of Vietnam has increased its circulation to 110,000 copies. The union also has access to national television and radio.
Dr Nguyen Kim Cuc told Green Left Weekly that the two campaigns developed from the sixth congress in 1987 as part of the renovation process had been "mutual assistance of women in the household economy" and "good care for children to reduce the numbers who suffer from malnutrition and those who drop out from school".
Cuc is a member of the presidium of the Women's Union and head of its International Relations Department.
The seventh congress plan of action includes:
- supporting income-generating activities for women;
- improving women's knowledge and capabilities;
- health care for women and children, family planning activities, good child-care and education;
- renovation of the structure of the union;
- participating in developing and supervising the laws and policies of the National Assembly concerning women.
A common way of helping create jobs is through loan funds to poor peasants at low interest, allowing them to buy equipment, seeds and fertiliser.
The Municipal Women's Union of Ho Chi Minh City distributed loans to 98 households in Hoc Mon and Thu Duc districts for pig raising. Two years later, there were 106 households engaged in raising sows, including 96 which have produced 1556 piglets.
The Women's Union has been repaid the equivalent of 516 pigs, allowing it to provide finance to a further 316 households.
A similar example is in Trang Dinh district in Lang Son province, about 100 km north of Hanoi.
The Women's Union has benefited from financial assistance from the International Women's Development Agency. This has been in the form of a revolving loan fund project, allowing poor women to plant trees, raise fowl, breed fish, produce handicrafts, etc.
Hoang Thi To, a member of one of the women's groups, had used the money to develop pig breeding. She bought maize, potato and manioc to produce alcohol and used distiller's grains to feed pigs. Her income from pig breeding has risen from 2 million dong to 5 million dong/year.
The women participating in the revolving loan project have monthly meetings to exchange experiences.
Cuc explained that the detail of raising women's knowledge varied through the country. In the mountain areas where illiteracy among women was high, eradication of this was a high priority. In the southern delta region, the focus was more on technical knowledge to help with production.
Half of children under five years old suffer from malnutrition. Many newborn babies weigh under 2.5 kilos. Half of women are anaemic, and 50-70% have gynaecological diseases.
Information about diet, breast feeding and immunisation are all part of the union's campaigns. Population growth is slowly declining, with the increase being 1.60% in 1992, down from 1.63% in 1991.
In mountain areas the population growth rate is higher than the national average. Surveys indicate that lack of access to contraception and information are important reasons for this.
Women's departments in the trade unions are also campaigning to generate independent incomes for women, focusing on crop raising and animal husbandry.
Prostitution is a big problem, particularly with the increase of tourism. The Women's Union has proposed amendments to the penal code with harsher penalties for brothel owners and those who organise prostitution for foreigners.
The prostitutes are viewed as victims; 70-80% of women who take up prostitution do so primarily because of lack of alternative employment.
In Ho Chi Minh City alone, 2400 job training classes have been opened to almost 56,000 women in the past two years.
Women's role is more prominent than in many neighbouring countries. Participation in the economic activity is high, and women have important responsibility in communes and other social organisations. In agriculture women are 53.2% and in industry 43.2%. They are 37.4% of the population of colleges and universities.
There are 73 women deputies in the National Assembly out of 395 — 18.5%.