Gender Study in Quang Tri

Chia Se supports decentralisation by making poverty alleviation a bottom-up and demand-driven process. A core programme concept is the discretional management of local development funds (LDF) by villages, empowering them to pursue their own development priorities and make articulate demands on needs and expectations for general public service delivery. One of the basic principles mainstreamed in Chia Se is gender equality. Approaching the end of the programme cycle it was therefore decided to evaluate to which extent the Chia Se approach and methodologies have been successful in:

• Involving women in the various activities,
• Increasing women’s influence and involvement in planning, decision-making, implementing and managing bodies in society, and
• Determinig if/how the project has impacted on women’s lives, livelihoods and living standards.

The study is an internal assessment of the suitability of approaches and methodologies used. Results of the study show the applicability of Chia se approach, methodologies and type of activities for improving women’s lives disaggregated into different sectors. The study also points out what specific kind out supportive systems are needed, and should be encouraged, for women’s income generation.

Experiences of the study were fed into recommendations to Provincial and local governments, Women’s Union, other projects and governmental programmes concerning gender aspects and women’s involvement in SEDP process. The results are expected to be useful and applicable in other locations in Vietnam, both for local governments, WU and other donor projects.