PIP: In February 1998, the Vietnam Women's Union (VWU) hosted a conference to review experience with the National Employment Program (NEP) that was instituted in 1993 to fund projects that create jobs. The 1.5 billion VND in funding distributed by the VWU that year has increased to 21 billion VND in 1997 and has supported 559 projects in 61 provinces and cities, creating 139,162 jobs. The 14 mountainous provinces have benefitted from 140 projects implemented with 4 billion VND in loans to ethnic minorities. In one case, a revolving loan fund of 100 million VND recovered most of the principle loaned as well as 54 million VND in interest. In another, investment of 70 million VND generated 48 million VND in income in a single year. The availability of the loans has allowed families to rise from chronic poverty as women have generated employment and income for their families. In order to expand, however, the program needs more funding and more cooperation from the State Treasury, and VWU members need training in order to be able to manage large projects.