Secure land use rights of ethnic minorities in Hoa Binh province

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the effective promotion and protection of land and forest resource rights of ethnic minorities.

The project will run from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2023, with funding from the European Union (EU), implemented by Helvetas and the Centre for Rural Communities Research and Development (CCRD) under Land Alliance.

Helvetas Germany and its partner Land Alliance (LANDA), of which CCRD serves as LANDA’s coordinating organization, have jointly developed this project to support vulnerable ethnic minorities, particularly vulnerable women, to claim their land-and forest resource related rights.

Although the law recognizes the equality of land rights to all, a significant gender gap in access to land and forest user rights persists since it is more often the male household members than women who are registered on the certificates of landownership in rural areas. Women belonging to ethnic minority groups are specifically vulnerable to violations of their rights. That is why, in all activities, LANDA and Helvetas will be particularly attentive to the needs of ethnic minority women.

According to local representatives, Hoa Binh is a poor province with the area of hills and mountains accounting for 65%, so there is always a shortage of residential and productive land for people. Land disputes account for over 90% of the annual complaints, while grassroots mediation teams are weak due to lack of proper training, lack of documentation and support. Moreover, the province has a very high proportion of ethnic minorities (more than 70%) while people's understanding of Land Law is also very limited.

Therefore, the implementation of the L4A project in Hoa Binh is expected to contribute positively to improving the efficiency of solving problems in the community through capacity building activities for the conciliators, propagating and disseminating land law to local people, contributing to the development, monitoring and implementation of policies related to land and forest use rights in the locality.

Mai Nguyen