Ethnic Minorities Working Group

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Vietnam has made great efforts in reducing the poverty rate, from nearly 60% of the population in 1993 to less than 20% in 2004. However, despite this overall achievement, ethnic minorities have experienced lower rates of poverty reduction than the general population. In 2004, ethnic minorities accounted for only 12.6% of the total population, but they made up 39.3% of the poor population (VHLSS 2004).


Members of the Ethnic Minorities Working Group (EMWG) share this concern, and meet to exchange ideas and 'lessons learned' about how to improve the development policy and practice for the benefit of ethnic minorities.

EMWG seeks to serve the interests of a broad membership, in particular the interests of Vietnamese NGOs. It expects to involve ethnic minority people as much as possible, and to establish, maintain and develop close links with other similar working groups in Vietnam.

EMWG functions under the umbrella of the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre, and is managed by a 'Core Group' of International and Vietnamese NGOs in accordance with the Government of Vietnam’s policies related to ethnic minorities. CARE International in Vietnam is currently taking the chairman role of the group.

The EMWG also maintains a database of agencies working with ethnic minorities in Vietnam. For any further information or if you wish to join the database, please contact Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa at the following e-mail address: [email protected] or subscribe to our mailing list.

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