Local products made by ethnic minority women in Đắk Nông Province are exhibited at the meeting. — Photo courtesy of UNDP

ĐẮK NÔNG — More than 450 ethnic minority women in the Central Highland Province of Đắk Nông will be helped to sell their products online under the framework of UNDP’s project 'Economic empowerment of ethnic minority women via application of I4.0'.

On Thursday, 45 groups of ethnic women met with companies, governmental and non-governmental organisations.

The meeting, based on the 3M (Match, Mentoring and Move) model, created a platform for participants to approach policies and innovations to promote their businesses and expand production.

Contributing to Việt Nam’s commitment of leaving no one behind, the project ultilises opportunities offered by the Industrial Revolution 4.0 including e-commerce platforms which enable small businesses to approach the market and supply chains; modern financial solutions; online courses on start-up, soft skills and climate change resilience; and new production technologies, among others. 

In Đắk Nông, ethnic minoritity groups account for 34 per cent of multidimensionally poor households.

Extreme weather events along with limited access to information, markets and technology threaten to take away their main livelihood of farming.

“It is a timely step to support ethnic minority promote their products and connect with partners via the application of Industrial Revolution 4.0,” said Tôn Thị Ngọc Hạnh, deputy head of the provincial People’s Committee.

“We will need to find the advantages of each group and area to help them unleash their potential, make products and escape from poverty,” she added.

Nguyễn Tiên Phong, head of UNDP Việt Nam’s inclusive growth unit, said additional resources, both technical and financial, were important in helping ethnic minorities escape poverty.

“To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of 'end poverty in all its forms everywhere', poverty reduction programmes need to act as a living laboratory that attracts the participation of governments, businesses, social organisations and ethnic minorities to pilot innovative solutions and spread the benefits of these initiatives to people in the most remote areas,” he said. — VNS