Workshop on the life of ethnic minorities in urban areas and industrial zones

Attending the workshop were Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thi Minh Hoa, Vice Principal of the School; Dr. Nguyen Van Chieu, Deputy Director of the Center for Training Quality Assurance, Head of the Ministry-level project of the Ethnic Committee; and many scientists and researchers from Tra Vinh University, Institute of Social Sciences, Institute of Ethnology...

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thi Minh Hoa, Vice Principal of the School delivered the opening speech at the workshop.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thi Minh Hoa, Vice Principal of the University, emphasized: The University of Social Sciences and Humanities is a famous address for prestigious and high-quality training and scientific research. Many topics in the fields of basic sciences, humanities, history, culture, and philosophy have been registered and implemented by the University's staff.

In fact, the country's economic development has more or less affected the lives of ethnic minorities, and it is very necessary to study the impact of economic development on the lives of ethnic minorities, especially ethnic minorities. The perspective of studying ethnic minorities in urban areas of Vietnam has raised many urgent issues both in theory and practice.

Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country, including 53 ethnic minorities. The majority of our country's ethnic minorities reside mainly in mountainous, highland, remote, isolated, and border areas, which are of special importance in terms of economy, security, defense, and ecological environment.

Due to history as well as the impact of urbanization and industrialization, there are about 1.5 million ethnic minorities (accounting for 11% of the total number of ethnic minorities in the country) living in urban areas across the country.

Dr. Nguyen Van Chieu, project leader, is moderating the workshop.

Under the impact of urbanization and market economy, the livelihoods and lives of ethnic minorities in urban areas are also greatly affected by changes and degradation of the natural environment such as deforestation, weathering and erosion of land, sharp decline in biodiversity, narrowing and pollution of living environment, frequent floods and droughts.

Although urban areas have more favorable conditions for economic development than mountainous, border and island areas, due to customs and limited human resources, the living standards and access to basic social services of ethnic minorities are still lower than those of other developed urban populations. The rate of poor and near-poor ethnic minority households in ultra-urban areas is still high compared to other regions and the whole country.

The quality of life of ethnic minorities in urban areas is not yet commensurate with urban living standards. The vast majority of ethnic minorities live in suburban areas, where essential urban socio-economic infrastructure such as electricity, roads, social culture and health care are often lacking.

MSc. Vu Tien Duc, Institute of Social Sciences of the Central Highlands region presented his paper at the conference.

Due to the negative impacts of urbanization and market economy, the cultural and spiritual life of ethnic minorities in urban areas is at risk of being lost, the level of cultural enjoyment of people is still low, social evils are complicated and tend to increase in ethnic minority areas...

These realities require management agencies to have comprehensive policy innovation to support ethnic minorities in urban areas, in accordance with the characteristics and lifestyles of ethnic minorities.

The workshop attracted 15 presentations and summaries of opinions from scientists. These are elaborate scientific works, with scientific and practical value for the research problem.

The workshop focused on exchanging and discussing three basic issues: Clarifying the theoretical basis for the lives of ethnic minorities in urban areas; Clarifying the current situation of the lives of ethnic minorities in urban areas and industrial zones in our country; Proposing recommendations and solutions to ensure and improve the lives of ethnic minorities in urban areas and industrial zones in our country today.