Impacts of Covid-19 remediation policies on gender equality and climate change in Son La and Thua Thien Hue provinces

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on economic development in Vietnam, as well as on businesses, workers, communities and households in Son La and Thua Thien Hue provinces.
To address the consequences of Covid-19, the Government of Vietnam and the People’s Committees of Son La and Thua Thien Hue provinces have implemented a variety of policies in order to support businesses and individuals financially, such as reducing taxes and financial responsibilities; ensuring social security for underprivileged groups including women, children and ethnic minorities; and guaranteeing agroforestry and production areas. In addition to public financial resources, local governments and residents also mobilize support from public and private sector organizations in order to help Covid-19 recovery.
Support from the government and the public has partly helped in reducing the impacts of Covid-19 on businesses and individuals. However, many challenges remain in developing and implementing policies, including: (i) many stakeholders face challenges having no timely access to information or the capacity to complete administrative procedures; (ii) state agencies’ implementation processes are slowly falling behind schedule and are untimely due to overlapping and inconsistent instructions; and (iii) support is so slow that it only assists people in purchasing daily necessities but not in recovering from Covid.
Current support policies are primarily aimed at assisting businesses, people infected with Covid-19 and workers. Support is extremely limited for ethnic minority groups and women and children. Covid-19 recovery policies should be considered in order to provide timely, accessible and relevant support to vulnerable groups’ needs and capacities.