Maternity protection is a key labour right of working women. International Labour standards are key references points in efforts to gradually expand maternity protection, which includes income security (through cash benefits), leave policies and effective access to good-quality maternal healthcare for pregnant women and mothers of newborns. Viet Nam’s maternity benefits are among the region’s most generous system in terms of duration and replacement rate. However, the main drawback of the maternity system in Viet Nam is its low coverage. Only workers in the compulsory social insurance system have access to maternity benefits. Lack of income security during the final stages of pregnancy and after childbirth forces many women, especially those in the informal economy, to keep working into the very late stages of pregnancy and/or to return to work prematurely, thereby exposing themselves and their children to significant health risks. In light of the coverage gaps and demographic projections, and as part of the country’s overall efforts to extend social protection, Viet Nam has committed to improving maternity protection for all working women. This paper aims to assess the current situation of maternity benefits in Viet Nam and the negative impacts of lack of income security during maternity benefits for women in the country, using the findings from the recent survey by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with Viet Nam’s Women union. This paper proposes the development of a multi-tiered maternity benefits system, which is a combination of social insurance and non-contributory benefits, as the potential solutions to expand access to maternity benefits in Viet Nam.

This article is part of the findings from the research project titled "Strategic gender needs among the Ede ethnic minority group in the Krong Jing commune, M'Drak district, Dak Lak province" using qualitative and quantitative methods. Research findings show that the Ede ethnic minority group families are still matrilineal but the division of labor in the family is almost similar to the patriarchal society. Ede men mainly undertake responsibilities of the production and community role, while Ede women mainly undertake the reproductive tasks. As a result, Ede men have more chances to access and demonstrate their abilities in public space with opportunities to expand their knowledge and interact with others. At the same time Ede women are confined by private space that contains many barriers and limitations for personal development. This causes gender inequality as well as gives rise to strategic gender needs responsive to the foundation for harmonious development between husband and wife in the Ede ethnic minority families.

This paper discusses how feminist theories have been applied in the explanation of gender-based issues and how feminist activists develop different approaches and measures to address these issues. The paper discusses the challenges faced by women in Uganda in accessing land independently and the patriarchal lineage in land ownership patterns which heavily rely on women's relationships with their husband's family and clan. The paper also highlights the efforts of advocacy coalitions such as The Uganda Land Alliance (ULA) and the Uganda Women's Network (UWONET) in promoting women's property rights in the Ugandan Land Act Reform. By tracking the progress of Ugandan women activists' campaign to demand women's rights to land, the paper emphasizes the important role of feminist theories in forming their activism and underscores the need for pragmatic gender equality policies to bridge the existing gender gap.