Promoting equality through voices of ethnic minority youth and journalists

The project is run by the For Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF) and sponsored by the US Embassy in Vietnam and the Moon of Hope fundraising programme from the VSF.

Strengthening the storytelling skills of 37 young journalists and communication officers

In February, Storytelling – a training course aimed at providing new skills, knowledge, and perspectives on storytelling in the media – was implemented for 37 journalists working in many press agencies such as VTV, VOV, Tien Phong, and Dan Viet, as well as communication officers from various development projects.

Before the training, most of the participants found it difficult to choose how to tell stories in press and communication articles, and were unsure about how to increase their appeal to audiences.

Some participants had already learned about these concepts, but had yet to apply them to their communications. After one day of training, the participants enthusiastically explored and discussed the definition of a story, the principles of creating an engaging piece, six struggles that are often faced, effective recipes, and three factors that help to increase the persuasion and attractiveness of the work.

Inspiring young ethnic minorities and journalists to share their views on equality

A training course on youth and gender equality took place in early April in the Van Ho district of Son La province. Organised by the project team and the Van Ho Department of Education and Training, it was the first time 40 ethnic minority youths were introduced to basic concepts of equality, and they had the opportunity to identify existing gender stereotypes and norms in themselves, their family, and their community.

The participants discussed and selected four gender inequality issues that young people are concerned about and want to solve. These were domestic violence, child marriage, child sexual abuse, and the preference shown to boys in families. Through experiential exercises and analysing the causes and consequences of each problem, they realised that change must start today.

“Let’s start today” was the message of the Equality Story - Youth’s Perspective seminar that was organised after this course. It saw the participation of 40 ethnic minority youths and 21 young journalists and communication officers from VTV, VTC, VOV, Tien Phong, Dan Viet, Labour, and Family Vietnam magazine.

The seminar was an opportunity to strengthen the voice and connection between youth and young journalists, thereby spreading positive stories and best practices to promote equality. At the seminar, the journalists were inspired by the creativity and enthusiasm of the young ethnic minorities through their presentation of each prominent gender issue.

Seeking and communicating positive lessons to promote equality in Van Ho district

On May 25-26 and June 1-2, 20 young journalists participated in two field trips in Van Ho. They were accompanied by the district's Department of Education and Training.

Over two days, each field trip team had the opportunity to connect with local people and hear their stories in the villages of Van Ho and Long Luong.

After the trip, there were six press articles published and one TV show aired. At least a further six articles are being expertly produced, and are expected to be published in July.

Dinh Duc Hoang has a story to be published in Tuoi Tre newspaper. This proves that the field trips have helped young journalists become more interested in gender equality and topics such as child marriage, domestic violence, and the preference shown to boys.

Promoting equality through the voices and actions of youths

To increase the voice and participation of young ethnic minorities in promoting equality, the project calls for the submission of proposals for the community initiative Equality stories - Youths' voice.

After the selection process and technical advice, the project supported four initiatives, including three from ethnic minority youth in Van Ho district and one from a journalist at Tien Phong newspaper.

The schemes have communicated and promoted gender equality to more than 1,000 ethnic minority youth and reached numerous readers.

With three initiatives, the rector of Van Ho High School plans to use communication products in class activities and school-wide events regarding gender equality, and organise communication sessions following the model that the participants used.

Young ethnic minorities wish to continue implementing other gender equality drives with support from Van Ho High School.

The initiatives have demonstrated the effectiveness of the training and seminars that the project held in April. Young people and journalists have made positive changes in their awareness, attitudes, and behaviours related to the topic of gender equality.

Additionally, the project also implemented the online communication campaign No voice, No equal future on the VSF’s fan page. In just two weeks, this campaign has achieved impressive results.

Besides the remarkable numbers, the campaign also attracted 54 quality slogans to oppose gender stereotypes and norms in youth’s career choices.

The slogans offer suggestions for practical actions, showing positivity and courage against gender stereotypes and gender norms. There are many that are very creative, rhythmic, and evocative to entice listeners. The VSF will use them for future its communication activities on this issue.

The No voice, No equal future project is one of the VSF’s main efforts in building and developing activities to promote gender equality, especially for women, children and the disadvantaged.

In addition to this, No voice, No equal future is closely related to the Child sexual abuse prevention project under the Child Protection Programme and the Growing up with children project under the School Nutrition Programme. They share the common goal of connecting and mobilising the whole community in promoting equal opportunities and social justice for vulnerable groups.

UNESCO continues promoting education for ethnic minority girls The UNESCO Office in Vietnam on March 29 announced the second phase of the project “We are ABLE – Promoting Gender Equality and Girls’ Education for Children in Ethnic Minority areas of Vietnam” with ABLE stands for the project's slogan "Achieving Better Living and Education", which emphasises confidence in the ability of ethnic minority children, especially girls, to overcome challenges.

Equality from the perspective of youth A training course on youth and gender equality took place in early April in the Van Ho district of Son La province. Organised by the For Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF) and Van Ho Department of Education and Training, it was the first time these young people were introduced to basic concepts of equality, as well as identifying existing gender stereotypes and norms in themselves, their family, and community.