The villagers of the Giay ethnic minority are often at the mercy of the weather, so UN Women is helping them avert losses in their main livelihoods of farming and raising chickens and fish. Quang Kim, a commune in Ta Trang village near the capital of Lao Cai province in northern Viet Nam, is often hit by flash floods and landslides during the storm season. “The income of my family depends much on planting rice and selling chicken and fish, but all were buried by the flood in October last year,” said Ho Thi Nhung, 38, who lives here with her husband and two sons.

Women have been hit harder by the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic as more women work in low-paying, insecure and informal jobs. This includes migrant domestic workers. Nan Zar Ni Myint is a domestic worker from Myanmar and a volunteer in her community based in Bangkok, Thailand. She has mobilized her network of domestic workers to support other domestic workers in Thailand, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the launch of the UN Women Markets for Change (M4C) project in April 2014, staff in Suva are working in partnership with local councils to conduct a series of three workshops for Suva market vendors to create awareness around the importance of market vendor associations and equip them with necessary knowledge to elect a representative for the Suva United Market Vendors Association.

Women are the poorest of the poor and the ones to suffer the most due to lack of social security nets and access thereof. In the absence of adequate social protection they are subjected to increased risks of sinking below the poverty line or remaining trapped in poverty for generations.