Gender and Resettlement in the Song Bung 4 Hydropower Project

Monawar Sultana, Senior Social Specialist, Energy Division, Southeast Asia Department

Deep in the mountains of central Viet Nam, isolated ethnic villages traditionally face challenges accessing quality health service, water, sanitation and education facilities. One such region is the Nam Giang district of Quang Nam province in central Viet Nam, which is predominantly inhabited by indigenous people belonging to the Co Tu ethnic minority. The construction of a 156-megawatt hydropower plant on the Song Bung in the Vu Gia-Thu Bon river basin will affect several ethnic villages living in this area. The project, which became effective on 16 January 2009, will result in the relocation of 224, mainly Co Tu households, in All the details of the resettlement were the Zuoih commune of Nam Giang district. The discussed with the women of the Co Tu ethnic $196 million ADB project is supported by a minority. complementary grant of $2 million financed by Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) 9120: Livelihood Improvement of Vulnerable Ethnic Minority Communities, which aims to improve living standards and reduce poverty rates among vulnerable ethnic minorities affected by the infrastructure Hydropower project. The ethnic minority culture, customary legal system, and subsistence economy defines the life of a Co Tu woman, her place, role, tasks and options in life. The Co Tu culture is dominated by patrilineal and patrilocal norms, in which women have no ownership of land, houses or other assets. This makes them dependent on their husbands, or if widowed or divorced, on male relatives. Most Co Tu, especially women, also have low educational levels. In terms of the division of labor, both men and women cultivate the land. Men hunt and fish in the river, while women tend to the fields for agricultural activities, sowing, planting, weeding, and collecting forest products and firewood. Women catch small fish in rivers and take care of fishponds in villages. The men cut trees to clear the fields and do the main construction work of houses, but women are involved in almost all tasks related to agriculture and animal breeding. Time-wise, women work longer hours than men in cultivation, livestock breeding and forestry, as well as childcare, eldercare and food preparation. ADB's consultative process with communities affected by the Song Bung hydropower project ensured that the villagers understood their rights. In order to lessen the impact on women, gender concerns were integrated into resettlement activities, including community mobilization, capacity building and a livelihood improvement program. All the details of the resettlement were discussed with the women in the community. Women participated in the surveys, development planning, village layout planning,

water and sanitation location, community hall, and schools and identification of forest resource, wet rice fields and fishponds in resettlement sites. They also participated in land allocation for housing upland and garden land. Villagers were compensated, and both husband and wife were awarded land user right certificates for their land. This resulted in the villagers opening bank accounts for the first time in three villages. Many efforts were made to ensure that the villagers new life would be better after the resettlement took place and that they would have more control over their future.

Women actively participated in the Consultative Process for development and village layout planning.

I learned about the food allowance policy. I learned about compensation. I learned about where we will move. We now know about electricity relocation, water supply and other public buildings said Bonouch Chieng, a Community Facilitator from the Thon 2 Village, after participating in the consultations arranged by the SB 4 Project. To ensure their active participation, a womens group was formed in each village. Monthly meetings were held to discuss resettlement issues, as well as livelihood programs, health awareness campaigns, and key issues like HIV/AIDS and human trafficking. A Village Resettlement Development Group (VDRG) with representatives from the affected households, was created in each of the 4 reservoir inundated villages and the host village Pa Pang, with women representing 50% of group. The members of this group were trained on entitlement, resettlement site development planning, monitoring and construction of resettlement sites, leadership training and opening of bank accounts to ensure that they had a say in all aspects of the resettlement planning. The project also developed male and female community facilitators and village extension workers specializing on livestock, agriculture, fisheries and health from each village. A literacy class in the four affected villages and the Pa Pang host village was offered, with most participants being women. Several pilot programs were introduced to make the work in the village more efficient. Many women participated in programs for wet rice field development, bean cultivation and vegetable gardening. In the downstream village of Pa Dau 2, a revolving rice bank was introduced and was managed by women. The revolving rice bank will help the households borrow rice during the lean season and not to sell bean crops at low prices to buy rice. The rice bank will also help the households to sell bean crops at higher prices when the market price for beans is high.
A woman from Pa Dhi Village trained as a health worker.

Additionally, both men and women from such households were trained on livestock and fisheries for the improvement of their livelihoods. The new skills and extension training on agriculture has helped ease the burden of agricultural work on women. New techniques in weeding, bean cultivation and wet rice field, vegetable gardening in the homestead, and use of natural fertilizers are now being applied by the villagers. The women trained as agricultural extension workers, can now also train other women in the village on new techniques of bean cultivation, vegetable gardening and preservation of vegetables. Some have even been able to set up vegetable plots by themselves, by following the pilot vegetable garden project and applying the new techniques they have learned.

The women trained as agricultural extension workers, can now also train other women in the village new techniques of bean cultivation, vegetable gardening, and preservation of vegetables.

I help villagers implement model farms, so when we move to the resettlement site, we can apply this knowledge, stated Coor Dal, one of the agricultural extension workers in Pa Dhi village. Because of the success of the agriculture training program, many villagers now grow beans and vegetables in their backyards and pilot farms. In each reservoir affected village and the host village Pa Pang, women are trained as paravets to prevent animals form getting sick. So too are health workers, to address immediate health concerns of the villagers. This extension training program has provided women with the means to support extension services for the PRESENTATION. [ PDF | 46 slides ] livelihood programs for their villages. Villagers are hopeful that with this new knowledge can mitigate the worse impacts of the resettlement. As one villager said: I will miss this area very much, but with the support of the project, the training and the consultation meetings, I believe that when we move, we can have a better life.
VIDEO REPORTS

Song Bung 4: Overview Consultative Process Health worker Agriculture Livestock

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.