(HBO) - In order to improve the local ethnic minority groups’ access to information related to land and forest use rights, the "Secure Land Rights for All - Giving Ethnic Minorities a Voice"” (L4A) project is being implemented in Mai Chau and Da Bac districts of Hoa Binh by Helvetas Vietnam in collaboration with the Land Alliance (LANDA)/Center for Rural Community Development Research (CCRD), and the provincial Farmers' Union.

In Mai Chau district, the Thai ethnic group makes up nearly 60 percent of the population, the Muong ethnic group over 14 percent, the Mong ethnic group 9.6 percent. Grassroots mediation groups have actively contributed to solving problems occurring in the community.

However, Sung A Chenh, Chairman of the Farmers’ Union of Mai Chau district, said: In some localities, grassroots mediation groups still lack knowledge and capacity to solve problems related to land, and land and forest use rights of ethnic minorities. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the capacity regarding the legal framework and related skills to best support local people and authorities in addressing problems in the community. Although the L4A project has just been implemented, it has partly strengthened the capacity of mediation groups and social organisations at the grassroots level as well as the ethnic minority community, especially women, in handling issues related to their land and forest resources.

Hoang Hung, Deputy Chief of the Office of the provincial Farmers’ Union, said that issues related to land use rights often cause great impacts on the lives of ethnic minorities, as their livelihoods depend mainly on land and forest resources, while their voices are not really heard sometimes. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the project. The distinction of the training programme is that the contents on land policy and mediation are specially designed by the project's experts, so they are suitable for ethnic minorities in mountainous areas.

Up to now, the units have coordinated to organise and complete three training courses, in which trainees improve their awareness and skills in contributing to the development of land policies, and mediation skills in the field of land. In the rest of the year, the trainees are expected to complete all five training courses. After that, these trainees will conduct re-training sessions for grassroots officials, members of the local mediation teams, village elders, village heads and reputable people to provide effective support on land and forest use rights of ethnic minorities./.