Hanoi (VNA) – Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan had a meeting with femaleethnic minority students who received scholarships from the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund, in Hanoi on August 16.

Commending efforts made by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU) Central Committee in performing the programme, the Vice President sincerely thankedformer Vice President Truong My Hoa, who is Chairwoman of the Vu A Dinh ScholarshipFund, as well as philanthropists, donors, organisations, and individuals whohave devoted their heartfelt contributions to developing the fund.

Implementing the Party and State'spolicy of great national unity, resources allocated to support ethnicminority communities are increasing in both quantity and scope, with more sustainedaid, Xuan said.

Shestated that Vietnam has achieved significant, practical, and sustainableaccomplishments in fulfilling its millennium development goals, especially in reducingpoverty, promoting gender equality, and education development.

Vietnamesewomen are engaged in activities spanning various fields including politics,economy, education, sports, and UN peacekeeping efforts, she added.

Notably, the project “Mo duong den tuong lai” (OpeningPaths to The Future) implemented by the Fund in collaboration with the VinaCapital Foundation(VCF), has contributed to developing young humanresources for ethnic minority communities across the country, Xuan said.

It has helped promote gender equality among female ethnicminority students who often face various constraints and disadvantages due tolocal customs, helping them overcome prejudices and have opportunities foradvancement, and empowering them to assert themselves, she stressed.

The Vice President urged the HCYU Central Committee to consider connecting the Fund with nationaltarget programmes to ensure comprehensive and stronger resources for caring foryoung students in remote and ethnic minority areas, thus narrowing thedevelopment gap between urban and rural areas, and delta and mountainousregions.

She expressed her hope that female ethnic minority students willimprove themselves to become shining examples, inspiring and spreading positivemotivation to young students in remote and ethnic minority areas.

She also called on the VCF to continue closer collaboration withthe Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund to support more female ethnic minority studentsin the future.

Chairwoman of Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund Truong My Hoa affirmedthat they will take more sustainable steps forward to develop younghuman resources in ethnic minority communities across the country.

After 24 years of operation, the fund has provided more 125,000 scholarshipsto students living ethnic minority areas nationwide.

Established in 1999, the fund was named after Vu A Dinh (1934-1949),an ethnic Mong in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien. He received the title of Hero of thePeople's Armed Forces in 2000.

The fund is now carrying out three main projects: Uommam tuong lai (Nurturing The Future), Mo duong den tuong lai (OpeningPaths to The Future), and Thap sang tuong lai (Brightening The Future)./.