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    Engaging with the private sector for development : a critical analysis of attempts to partner with business for women's economic empowerment in Vietnam : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Nguyen, Lan Phuong Thi
    Development agencies have increasingly recognised the private sector as playing an important role in the progress toward achieving sustainable development. While scholars contest the private sector’s role in development, development agencies and NGOs continue collaborating with the private sector to deliver social results for the poor. There have been numerous studies on the role of large companies, mostly multinational corporations, in development. However, limited literature sheds light on the engagement of donors with micro and small enterprises in development as well as their impacts on women’s economic empowerment. This research aims to fill this gap by critically investigating donor-private sector partnerships implemented under an Australian aid programme in which micro and small enterprises are engaged to economically empower ethnic minority women in Vietnam. My findings suggest that micro and small businesses are important development partners in creating economic opportunities for low-income women. Locally- and socially-embedded businesses can achieve success and sustainability through their ability to engage with ethnic minority women. They also have the potential to create economic, social, and cultural impacts. They can be inclusive, with some small businesses reaching poor ethnic minority women regardless of production scales, and they can help women improve their incomes by supporting women to cultivate and sell unique, traditional, and cultural products. However, these private sector partners face challenges that constrain their partnership with development agencies and limit the objective of empowering ethnic minority women. My research findings challenge the instrumentalist notion of women’s economic empowerment, which donors commonly deploy in partnerships with a business by focusing solely on providing training and access to productive resources for market integration. It confirms that this instrumentalist approach is insufficient to genuinely empower women. Instead, my research recommends a holistic donor-private sector partnership framework for women’s empowerment to plug the gaps and transform the prevailing women’s economic empowerment approach. This proposed framework includes two elements which emerged from the research findings: relational and collective empowerment. Relational empowerment emphasises the importance of the relational aspects of empowerment and how changes in power relations in the surrounding environment affect women's empowerment. Collective empowerment reflects the need for collective action to influence changes in social norms and rules to recognise and improve women’s positions within households and the broader community. The proposed framework also involves civil society organisations, non-government organisations, and local governments as important partners in addressing unequal structures and barriers to women and enabling transformative outcomes for women. These research findings will support development agencies to better engage with the private sector to enable ethnic minority women’s empowerment.
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    Education, development scholarships and women's empowerment : exploring the impacts of the Vietnam Education Foundation Fellowship : a research report presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master's in International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Bui, Hanh Thanh
    The research project explores the impacts that international development scholarship programmes have had on women’s empowerment in Vietnam drawing on a case study of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) Fellowship Programme and its female Fellows. Evaluations of such scholarship schemes are often limited to quantitative assessments of the number of graduates, degrees obtained or professional promotions after graduation. While education is understood as being a significant means for women’s empowerment, an understanding of how these education scholarship programmes have impacted on women’s empowerment is still under-studied, especially in the context of Vietnam. This research provides an in-depth qualitative exploration of the experiences of five female VEF Fellows who pursued Master’s or Ph.D. degree programmes in the STEM fields in the U.S. and have now returned to work in Vietnam. The research findings have shown that while the VEF Fellowship has had mostly positive impacts on women’s empowerment, it also resulted in some challenges for the women once back in Vietnam. In terms of the positive impacts, participants of the research reported they have now become self-confident and independent women. They have more self-respect and also gain respect from others. While previously, their decisions were influenced by others, now they make decisions in line with their own wishes. They are also able to access more career opportunities and enlarge their networks. In return, these VEF Fellows have exercised their expertise and positive attributes to support others within their family, their workplace, the community and the country at large. This transformation is a manifestation of the women’s empowerment. Nonetheless, taking on the study opportunity also created some negative outcomes influencing women’s empowerment to some extent. When coming back, these VEF Fellows have encountered “reverse culture shock”, the feeling of loss and disorientation, negative reactions from family and friends for their being allegedly “Westernized”, and personal dissatisfaction with the Vietnamese working style, services, and infrastructure. They also have to deal with gender discrimination including problematic stereotypes of females in the STEM fields. Taking on the scholarships also brought about unexpected influences on these women’s personal and love life. However, overall these Fellows did not regret the decision they had made to pursue higher education in the U.S. More importantly they took action to tackle any challenges and confirm their position in the workplace and in the society. All participants of the research felt that the positive changes outweighed the challenges. The research findings prove that women’s empowerment might be achieved through education scholarships as part of development aid schemes. Development scholarships are not only ii a means to enhance people’s expertise in specific professional fields but from a gender perspective they are effective tools to promote and sustain the position of women participants. More importantly, the awards granted to women have compelling impacts on transforming not only the women recipients themselves but also other women and the wider community. Research findings also indicate that besides access to a more advanced education, living in a more developed and less patriarchal country and interacting with people coming from diverse backgrounds and cultures, also contributes to the empowerment process of these women. At the same time, the research suggests that scholarship programmes should pay more attention to supporting women participants when they return to their home country.
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    Government, ODA and sustainable development : their linkages and the case of Vietnam : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Phylosophy [i.e. Philosophy] in Development Studies at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2002) Nguyen, Duc Minh
    Sustainable development, the role of government, and ODA are three major concerns in Development Studies. Sustainable development is an interest that has recently emerged but has become quickly and widely accepted in the field as a desirable vision for the future of humankind. It affects the rationale and redefines the responsibilities of both government and ODA. Government has two interrelated roles in development: a sovereign regulator and a powerful developmental actor. ODA is a means through which governments and external agencies interact in the development field. This present thesis articulates an integrated perspective to sustainable development and applies it to discuss major issues of government, ODA, and especially their developmental roles. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the debate on the role of government in making ODA work for sustainable development. Its arguments and recommendations are confined to the case of Vietnam – an aid recipient country in transition. In general, it is found that the donor and recipient governments play very important roles in making ODA work for sustainable development due to three reasons. First, they are essential for sustainable development as both necessary and irreplaceable regulator and powerful developmental actors. Second, ODA is not automatically, but is potentially, helpful for sustainable development. Last but not least, the governments have decisive roles in affecting the volume, scope, scale, and effectiveness of ODA resources and activities. In the particular case of Vietnam, the role of the government in the ODA - sustainable development link is momentous because it is presently the major force that overwhelmingly influences the direction and controls significant shares of resources and activities of development (in comparison with the private sector) in the country. For ODA to work for sustainable development in Vietnam, the key recommendations are that, firstly, the government needs to improve its administrative ability, especially its ability in ODA management, and maintain its national independence in making development decisions on behalf of the people. At the same time, the government needs to put sustainable development as the goal for all of its development planning and intervention activities in order to establish the foundation for cooperating with the donor community, integrating ODA resources into the country's total resources for sustainable development and facilitating ODA to best supplement the sustainable development process of Vietnam. Last but not least, the government has to act more carefully and effectively in utilizing ODA resources to intervene into the society and the economy in order to ensure all the productive potential is released and all the latent possibilities of all components of the economy and the society are developed in a sustainable manner.
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    Health and development in Vietnam : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Altmann, Maria
    This research investigates the current situation of Vietnamese people's health and development, with a particular focus on the wellbeing of Vietnamese women. Its central question is the impact of the political and economic reforms in Vietnam from 1986 onward, which reinstated the "family economy" and a number of free market principles within the country's socialist framework. It is based on a combination of field observations from an investigative visit to Vietnam in April 1994 and literature reviews covering concepts of development, Vietnamese culture, history, politics and economics. Wherever possible, Vietnamese sources (in English translation) have been incorporated. The first substantive chapter explores the connection between health, development and the environment, estabishing the interrelationship between the wellbeing of marginalised groups within a society and the meaning behind sustainable human development. The concept of wellbeing is argued as encompassing values of self-determination, while the concept of provision for sustainable livelihood is highlighted as a means to intercept the cycles of poverty and disease. A brief insight into aspects of Vietnamese cultural and social history up to the end of the colonial period is then offered, focusing on the organisation of the traditional village, so as to sign-post key aspects of culture and social organisation which have continued to influence the development of Vietnamese society. The following chapter gives the background to the process of political and economic reform in Vietnam from reunification in 1976 following the end of the Vietnam War identifying the ideological changes involved and outlining the macroeconomic impact of the reforms. The goals of current Vietnamese social policy are also considered. The final two chapters present data and analysis on the current state of Vietnamese people's wellbeing, identifying where possible the effects of recent policy changes. Topics covered are population, gender discrimination and the status of women, household poverty, education, employment, water supply and sanitation, women's health, child wellbeing, and the structure and operation of the Vietnamese health care system. The main findings are that the reforms have increased resource disparities between different groups in Vietnam and that the less advantaged, including a large proportion of Vietnamese women, face a serious decline in wellbeing unless changes occur in priorities for development.