Participants study materials during the workshop. — VNA/VNS Photo

LÀO CAI — Women and ethnic minority residents in northern Việt Nam are learning how to protect their rights under the country’s marriage and family laws, as part of a World Bank–funded effort to make legal aid more accessible to vulnerable communities.

The two-day workshop, held earlier this month in Yên Bình Commune, Lào Cai Province, was organised by the Centre for Legal Consultation for the Poor and Community Development, under the Vietnam Lawyers Association.

Participants – many of them are local leaders, women’s union representatives and village elders – discussed key provisions of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family and shared experiences of how to resolve disputes and eliminate harmful practices such as child marriage and consanguineous marriage.

A presenter explains key provisions of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family at the workshop.

"This is about bringing the law closer to people’s lives," said Hoàng Hợp, Vice Chairman of Yên Bình Commune's People’s Committee.

"When communities understand the law, they can prevent violations before they happen."

Nguyễn Thị Khánh Linh, a Party Cell Secretary in Hamlet 12, said the session gave her practical tools to promote behavioural change.

"Our hamlet has four ethnic groups – Kinh, Dao, Tày and Cao Lan – with more than 260 households. I now know how to explain legal rights in a way people understand, and to encourage families to abandon outdated customs," she said.

The workshop forms part of a broader initiative, 'Improved Delivery of Legal Aid for the Poor and Vulnerable,' financed by the Japan Social Development Fund through the World Bank from 2022 to 2026.

The project aims to provide free legal counselling and build community-level capacity in provinces such as Lào Cai and Điện Biên.

Director of the Centre for Legal Consultation for the Poor and Community Development Hà Huy Từ speaks at the workshop.

Since its founding in 2008, the Centre has offered thousands of free legal sessions for disadvantaged people across Việt Nam, covering civil, labour and criminal law.

Centre Director Hà Huy Từ said the organisation’s goal was simple but ambitious – to ensure that the law was not something distant or abstract, but a living promise that protected those at society’s margins. — VNS