2030 club ready for second charity-business caravan tour

The 2030 Businessmen Club will organize a second caravan tour featuring charity, business and holiday activities for its members and other clubs from May 24 to 27.

Nguyen Hoai Nam, chairman of the club, a member of the Saigon Times Club, told reporters in HCMC yesterday some 100 business people would travel on 40 cars through more than 1,000 kilometers from Vietnam to Cambodia.

The tour will start in HCMC and take in Moc Bai Border Gate in Tay Ninh Province of Vietnam, and Phnom Penh on the first day. The participants will visit the Royal Palace and other tourist attractions in the Cambodian capital before meeting the Vietnamese business community in Cambodia at the premises of the Vietnamese embassy.

The meeting is for participants to build links and explore business opportunities through their counterparts in Cambodia.

The business people will present scholarships, books, instant noodle, clothes and other necessities of life to poor Vietnamese students of the first and third graders on Ton Le Sap lake in Siem Reap. They will donate some VND30 million as teaching fees over two years to the teachers who help the poor pupils.

Visits to Angkor Wat and other places of interest in Cambodia are part of the caravan tour, which the 2030 Businessmen Club is organizing in collaboration with VYC Travel and advertising firm HTC.

Nam said the club was taking registrations from business people to participate in the tour, and calling for the business community to make donations in cash or kind for the poor the club will help during their trip in Cambodia.

Saigon Times Club manager Quoc Vinh said the 2030 club organized the first Vietnam-Cambodia caravan tour after the success of the caravan tour through Binh Phuoc, Dak Nong and Daklak provinces last year.

Participating business people of last year’s caravan tour donated 300 gifts and 25 wheelchairs to the needy in the provinces. Accompanying doctors and nurses also examined 200 patients and donated medicines.

Vinh said the caravan tour and the futsal tournament were among the annual activities the 2030 Businessmen Club held to benefit its members and the community.

The 2030 club, which was established in 2002, now has more than 200 members. The club and Saigon Times Group have successfully hosted futsal tournaments for companies and organizations, special events for the club’s members to share business and entertainment experiences, and charity events to collect money for Orange Agent and natural disaster victims and poor yet industrious students.

Source: Saigon Times Daily

Saigon Cyclo race wheels in $60,000 for charity

The Sai Gon Children's Charity's seventh annual Sai Gon Cycle Challenge was the largest ever as over 3,000 people watched nearly 50 company teams compete at the Sai Gon South Roller Skating Rink last Saturday.

The charity estimated that it raised more than US$60,000 - 10% of its expected annual income - through over 90 sponsors. The money will go towards building new schools, developing a recently established school for the deaf, granting scholarships, providing vocational training and offering microfinance options for the rural poor.

The internationally corporate-sponsored event reflected the growing commitment of the business and local community to participate in large non-profit charity events that rely on co-operation and volunteer work. The crowd was the kind of mix becoming more common in Vietnam, a mix of both foreigners and Vietnamese, both executives and entry-level employees.

The company teams, made up of employees from the local and foreign businesses in Vietnam, raced in five-relay heats that required teamwork to overcome various off-track physical challenges and obstacle courses.

An additional heat was run, with real-life cyclo drivers representing the teams. The race brought together two very different Vietnam's as CEOs drove cyclos and real cyclo drivers became corporate advertisers.

The first and second place winners of each race then competed in the final Grand Prize Race. The Duxton Hotel team won first place for the second year in a row while Adidas Team 3 took second place and The Canadian Chamber of Commerce (Cancham) came in third.

In addition to the races, a Grand Sponsors Parade provided the event's largest sponsors the opportunity to put on a show with marching bands, cheer-leaders, costumed dancers, decorated cyclos, banners and floats.

HSBC went all out to win the Best Cheerleading prize with its carnival-esque outfit of fire jugglers on unicycles and exotic dancing girls.

Smiles abounded and the day went off without a hitch as everyone, even the usually stressed out organisers, had a blast. "This is the first time I've really been able to completely enjoy the whole event," said Director of the Sai Gon Children's Charity Paul Cleves, who has also chaired the event for five years.

"We've had hassles in the past but there we haven't had any problems this year. This is a really really good time. Brilliant."

Although there were some near spills on the rickety cyclos, the first aid booth was quiet and the event was an enjoyable success.

Source: Viet Nam News

ADB loans $53 mln for water supply, sanitation in central Vietnam

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will lend Vietnam US$53.2 million to help improve water supply and sanitation infrastructure in small towns in the central region.

The two sides signed an agreement for the purpose in Hanoi Thursday.

The central region, home to a large number of poor, is in dire need of investments to catch up with other regions in terms of development.

The gap in living standard is actually widening with investments focused steadily on urban areas in the north and south of the country.

The lack of infrastructure severely discourages needed external investments to develop the central region.

The ADB-assisted project will upgrade water supply and sanitation infrastructure, increase access to services, and improve the management of public utilities in eight small and medium towns in the provinces of Binh Thuan, Dak Nong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan and Phu Yen.

Around 13,300 households will benefit from improved and expanded water supply, 105,000 households from drainage and wastewater treatment and protection from floods, and 30,700 households from improved solid waste management and good hygiene practices.

The project will also assist institutional reforms, improvement in efficiency of water and sanitation utilities, and sustain provision of quality services.

This will include, among others, corporatization of public utilities, tariff adjustments, cost recovery, and facilitation of an enabling business environment.

A community environmental and sanitation awareness component will educate the public on the importance of good environmental hygiene as well as community support for the project.

Source: ADB Press release

ORDINANCE: On implementation of democracy at the commune level

National Assembly Standing Committee
No. : 34/2007/PL-UBTVQH11

Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Independence – Freedom - Happiness


ORDINANCE
On implementation of democracy at the commune level

Pursuant to the Constitution of Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1992 which has been revised and supplemented according to the Resolution No. 51/2002/QH10 of December 25, 2001 of the National Assembly Congress X, Session 10;

This Ordinance promulgates regulations on implementation of democracy at the commune level.

Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Governing Scope
This Ordinance promulgates contents that are to be disclosed to the public; contents that are to be discussed and decided by the people; contents that are to be commented by the people before decided by the competent agencies; contents that are monitored by the people; responsibilities of governments, officials and civil servants at the commune level, the village level, and the cluster level; responsibilities of related agencies, organizations, individuals and the people in implementation of democracy at the commune level.

Article 2. Principles to implement democracy at the commune level
1. Ensuring orders and disciplines in the framework of the Constitution and laws.
2. Ensuring the people’s right to know, contribute comments, decide, implement and monitor implementation of democracy at the commune level.
3. Protecting the State benefits, legal rights and benefits of organizations and individuals.
4. Publicity, transparency in implementation of democracy at the commune level.
5. Ensuring leadership of the Party, and management of the State.

Article 3. Responsibilities of organizations that implement democracy at the commune level
1. Within their powers and responsibilities, People Councils and People Committees at the commune level, related agencies, organizations and individuals are responsible for organizing implementation of democracy at the commune level.
2. People Councils and People Committees at the commune level are responsible for cooperating with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and member organizations of the Vietnam Fatherland Front at the same level to organize implementation of democracy at the commune level.
3. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and its member organizations at the commune level are responsible for monitoring implementation and propaganda, movement of the people to implement democracy at the commune level.

Article 4. Prohibited behaviors
1. Do not do contrary to regulations on implementation of democracy at the commune level.
2. Do not victimize those who have complaints, denunciations and recommendations related to implementation of democracy at the commune level.
3. Do not protect, prevent or lack of responsibilities for settlement of complaints, denunciations and recommendations related to implementation of democracy at the commune level.
4. Take advantage of implementation of democracy at the commune level to violate social safety and orders; violate the state benefits, legal rights and benefits of organizations and individuals.

Chapter II
CONTENTS TO BE PUBLICIZED

Article 5. Contents to be publicized
1. Socio – economic development plans and schemes to transform economic structure, estimates and final accounts of annual budget at the commune level.
2. Investment projects and buildings, priority, implementation progress, compensation schemes, subsidies for resettlement and reallocation related to projects and buildings at the areas managed by the commune level; detailed planning and plans to use land and regulatory scheme, resident planning at areas managed by the commune level.
3. Responsibilities and powers of officials and civil servants related to settlement of affairs of the people.
4. Management and use of funds, investment amounts, aids according to programs and projects for the commune level; mobilized amounts from contribution of the people.
5. Guidelines and plans of capital loan for the people to develop production and poverty eradication; methods and results of definition of poor households that are entitled to borrow capital for their production development, of social subsidies, houses of gratitude, health insurance cards.
6. Schemes on new establishment, integration, divisions of administrative units, administrative territory regulation related directly to the commune level.
7. Results of investigation, inspection and settlement of negative cases, and corruption case of officials and civil servants at the commune level, the village level and the cluster level; results of trust voting for the chairman and vice chairmen of People Councils and People Committee at the commune level.
8. Contents and results of receipt of the people’s feedback for issues decided by the commune level are required to get feedback by the commune governments in accordance to the Article 19 of this Ordinance.
9. Objects and levels of fees, charges and other financial obligations that are collected directly by the commune governments.
10. Legal regulations on administrative procedures, settlement of affairs related to the people that are implemented directly by the commune governments.
11. Other contents according to legal regulations, required by state competent agencies or commune governments if necessary.

Article 6. Forms of publicity
1. The contents stipulated at the Article 5 of this Ordinance are publicized under the following forms:
a) Posting publicly at the headquarters of people councils and people committees at the commune level;
b) Publicizing on the broadcasting system of the commune level;
c) Publicizing through heads of villages, heads of people clusters to inform to the people.
2. Commune governments are able to apply simultaneously many forms of publicity stipulated at item 1 of this Article; to carry out information provision as stipulated at the Article 32 of the Law on Anti-corruption.

Article 7. Publicity with the form of posting
1. Contents stipulated at item 2, item 3, item 9 and item 10 of the Article 5 of this Ordinance are to be posted at headquarters of People Councils and People Committee at the commune level.
2. Commune governments are responsible for posting the contents stipulated at item 1 of this Article after 2 days as latest since the approval date, signing date for issues decided by commune governments or since the receipt date for issues decided by the state higher level agencies.
3. Posting duration of the contents stipulated at item 2 and item 9 of the Article 5 of this Ordinance is 30 continuous days at least since the posting date; the contents stipulated at item 3 and item 10 of the Article 5 of this Ordinance are to be posted regularly.
Article 8. Publicity via the broadcasting system and through heads of villages and heads of people clusters to inform to the people
1. The contents stipulated at item 1, item 4, item 5, item 6, item 7, item 8 and item 11 of the Article 5 of this Ordinance are publicized on the broadcasting system of the commune level or sent to heads of villages and heads of people clusters to inform to the people.
2. Commune governments are responsible for publicizing the contents stipulated at item 1 of this Article after 2 days as latest since approval date, signing date of the documents for issues decided by the commune level or since the receipt date of documents for issues decided by state higher level agencies.
3. Publicity duration on the broadcasting system of the commune level is 3 continuous days.

Article 9. Responsibilities to organize implementation of publicized contents.
1. Commune People Committees are responsible for preparing and approving publicized contents with stating clearly methods to deploy implementation, implementation time and responsibilities to organize implementation.
2. The chairman of the commune people committee is responsible for organizing and directing implementation of approved plans and schemes.
3. Commune People Committees report to the commune People Councils on process and results of implementation of publicized contents at latest meeting of the People Council.

Chapter III
CONTENTS DISCUSSED AND DECIDED BY THE PEOPLE

Section 1
CONTENTS, FORMS OF THE PEOPLE’S DISCUSSES AND DECISIONS

Article 10. Contents discussed and decided directly by the people
The people discuss and decide directly policies and levels of contributions for building public infrastructure, welfare works within the commune level scope, village level scope and cluster level scope that are contributed by the people partially or totally and other affairs within internal community in accordance to legal regulations.

Article 11. Forms of the people’s discussion and decisions
1. The people discuss and decide directly the contents stipulated at the Article 10 of this Ordinance with one of the following forms:
a) Organizing meetings with voters or household representative voters in villages and people cluster;
b) Providing feedback cards to voters and household representative voters.
2. For cases of meetings with voters or household representative voters, voting is carried out by hand raising or ballot; form of voting is to be decided by the conference; if number of approvers does not exceed 50% of total voters or household representative voters in the village or the people cluster or the whole commune level, the meeting is to be re-organized.
3. If the meeting failed to be re-organized, provide feedback cards to voters or voters representing for households.

Article 12. Implementation worthiness of issues discussed and decided directly by the people
1. The contents stipulated at the Article 10 of this Article that are discussed and decided directly, if approved by more than 50% voters or household representative voters in the village, the people cluster or the whole commune level are deserved to be implemented.
2. The people are responsible for participating in discussing and deciding affairs of the village, the people cluster and the commune level according to legal regulations; executing and implementing decisions that are worthy of implementation.
3. Commune governments cooperate with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and its member organizations to organize propaganda, movement and persuasion for voters and households that do not agree with implementation of decisions that are worthy of implementation.

Section 2
CONTENTS, FORMS OF THE PEOPLE’S DISCUSSION, VOTING FOR COMPETENT LEVELS TO DECIDE

Article 13. The contents discussed and voted by the people
1. Regulations and consents of the village and the people cluster.
2. Voting, suspending, and dismissing the head of villages and people clusters.
3. Voting, suspending, and dismissing members of the people inspection board and the commune investment supervision board.

Article 14. Forms of the people’s discussion and voting
1. The people discuss and vote the contents stipulated at the Article 13 of this Ordinance with one of the following forms:
a) Organizing meetings with voters or household representative voters in each village and people cluster;
b) Providing feedback cards to voters or household representative voters.
2. For cases of meetings with voters or household representative voters, voting is carried out by hand raising or ballot; form of voting is to be decided by the conference; if number of approvers does not exceed 50% of total voters or household representative voters in the village or the people cluster or the whole commune level, the meeting is to be re-organized.
3. If the meeting failed to be re-organized, provide feedback cards to voters or voters representing for households, except voting, suspending and dismissing heads of villages and people clusters.

Article 15. Implementation worthiness of issues discussed and voted by the people
1. The contents stipulated at item 1 of the Article 13 of this Ordinance, if approved by more than 50% of total voters or household representative voters in the village and the people cluster, are deserved to be implemented after the district people committee issues the decision to recognize them.
2. The contents stipulated at item 2 of the Article 13 of this Ordinance, if approved by more than 50% of total voters or household representative voters in the village and the people cluster, are deserved to be implemented after the commune people committee issues the decision to recognize them.
3. The contents stipulated at item 3 of the Article 13 of this Ordinance, if approved by more than 50% of total voters or household representative voters, are deserved to be implemented after they are recognized by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee.

Article 16. Recognition of the contents discussed and voted by the people
1. Recognition of regulations and consents of the village and the people cluster is implemented as follows:
a) The heads of the village and the people cluster are responsible for reporting to the commune people committee on results of the people’s discussions and voting;
b) Within 3 working days since the receipt date of the reports of the village head and the people cluster head, the commune people committee is to set up a dossier to submit to the district people committee.
c) Within 7 working days since the receipt date of the dossier submitted by the commune people committee, the district people committee is to consider and issue the decision to recognize it; if it is not recognized, response in writing is to be made with clarified reasons.
2. Recognition of results of voting, suspending and dismissing the village head and the people cluster head is implemented as follows:
a) The person who chairs the meeting of the village and the people cluster is responsible for making minutes and reporting to the commune people committee on results of voting, suspending and dismissing the village head and the people cluster head;
b) Within 5 working days since the receipt date of the report, the commune people committee is to consider and issue the decision to recognize it; if it is not recognized, response in writing is to be made with clarified reasons.
3. Recognition of results of voting and dismissing members of the people inspection board and community investment supervision board is implemented as follows:
a) The person who chairs the meeting is responsible for reporting to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee on results of voting and dismissing members of the people inspection committee and the community investment supervision board;
b) Within 5 working days since the receipt date of the report, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the commune level is to consider and recognize it; if it is not recognized, response in writing is made with clarified reasons.

Section 3
RESPONSIBILITIES TO ORGANIZE THE CONTENTS DISCUSSED AND DECIDED BY THE PEOPLE

Article 17. Responsibilities of the commune people committee and the chairman of the commune people committee
1. The commune people committee prepares and approves implementation plans of the contents discussed and decided by the people; cooperates with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and social – political organizations at the same level to organize implementation; directs the village head and the people cluster head to implement the approved plan.
2. The chairman of the commune people committee is responsible for making general minutes of results of contents that are brought for the people to discuss and decide; cooperating with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the commune level to organize voting, suspending and dismissing the village head and the people cluster head.
3. The commune people committee reports to the commune people council on process and results of implementation of contents discussed and decided by the people at the latest meeting of the people council.

Article 18. Responsibilities of the village head and the people cluster head
1. Leading and cooperating with working teams of the Fatherland Front villages and people clusters to organize meetings with voters or household representative voters, provide feedback cards to voters or household representative voters so that the people can implement the contents stipulated at the Article 10, item 1 and item 3 of the Article 13 of this Ordinance.
2. Making minutes of results of affairs of the village and the people cluster that are discussed and decided directly by people at villages and people clusters.
3. Making minutes of results affairs at the commune level that are discussed and decided directly by the people; reporting results to the commune people committee.
4. Organizing implementation of affairs at scope of the village and the people cluster that have been decided by the people.

Chapter IV
CONTENTS COMMENTED BY THE PEOPLE BEFORE DECIDED BY THE COMPETENT AGENCY

Article 19. Contents commented by the people
1. Preparing the commune socio – economic development plan; scheme of transformation of economic structure and production structure; schemes of sedentarization, new economic zones and trade development at the commune level.
2. Drafting concrete planning and plans of land use and scheme on adjustments of management and use of the commune land fund.
3. Drafting plans to deploy programs and projects at in communes; policies, compensation schemes, resettlement schemes, infrastructure construction schemes, reallocation schemes, resident planning schemes.
4. Drafting schemes of new establishment, integration and division of administrative units, adjustments of administrative territories related directly to the commune level.
5. Other contents that are required to have the people’s comments according to the laws, at the requests of the state competent agencies or commune governments if necessary.

Article 20. Forms for the people to provide comments
1. Meetings with voters or household representative voters in each village and each people cluster.
2. Providing feedback cards to voters or household representative voters.
3. through the box of suggestion letters.

Article 21. Responsibilities of the commune governments in organizing implementation of contents commented by the people
1. The commune people committee is responsible for setting up and approving plans in order to get the people’s comments on contents of approval competence of the commune governments, including stating clearly forms of deployment, implementation time and responsibilities.
2. The commune people committee cooperates with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and socio – politic organizations at the same level to organize the implementation of the approved plans.
3. The chairman of the commune people committee is responsible for directing organization of getting feedback and synthesizing feedback of voters or household representative voters; studying feedback and informing the people of receipt of opinions of voters or household representative voters.
For the case that the commune government decides contents stipulated at the Article 19 of this Ordinance differently from opinions of the majority, it is required to state reasons clearly and to be responsible for its decision.
4. For contents assigned by the competent agencies to the commune governments to get opinions, feedback of the people, the commune people committee is responsible for developing and approving implementation plans, in including stating clearly deployment forms, implementation time and responsibility; directing organization of implementation, synthesis of opinions and reporting to the competent agencies on results of getting the people’s opinion at communes.
5. The commune people committee reports to the commune people council on process and results of implementation of contents that are brought for the people to comment at the latest meeting of the people council.

Article 22. Responsibilities of the higher level competent agencies for organizing implementation of contents commented by the people
1. Getting the people’s opinions before deciding affairs related directly to rights and benefits of the commune citizens.
2. Directing the commune level to organize for getting feedback and opinions of the people at the commune level.
3. Providing necessary documents for organizing for getting feedback and opinion of the people.
4. Receiving the people’s comments on contents that are brought to the people for comments. For cases the competent agencies decide the contents stipulated at the Article 19 of this Ordinance differently from opinions of the major, they are required to provide clear reasons and to be responsible for their decisions.

Chapter V
CONTENTS MONITORED BY THE PEOPLE

Article 23. Contents monitored by the people
The people monitor implementation of the contents stipulated at Article 5, 10, 13 and 19 of this Ordinance.

Article 24. Forms of implementation of the people’s monitoring
1. The people implement their monitoring through operations of the people inspection board and the community investment supervision board.
The operation process and procedures of the people inspection board and the community investment supervision board are implemented according to the legal regulations.
2. The people implement directly their monitoring through their rights of complaints, denunciations and recommendations to competent agencies and organizations or petitions through the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, its member organizations at the commune level, the people inspection committee and the community investment supervision board.
Process and procedures of complaints, denunciations and recommendations of the people are implemented according to the legal regulations.

Article 25. Responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals in implementation of the people’s monitoring
Within the scope of their responsibilities and powers, agencies, organizations and individuals have the following responsibilities:
1. Providing sufficiently and in time manner necessary information and documents to the people inspection board and the community investment supervision board;
2. Considering, settling and responding in time manner complaints, denunciations and recommendations of the people inspection board, the community investment supervision board, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, member organizations of the commune Front or reporting to competent agencies on issues that are not of their settlement competence;
3. Settling those who have behaviors preventing operations of the people inspection board and the community investment supervision board or those who have behaviors of revenge and victimization for citizens who have complaints, denunciations and recommendations according the legal regulations.

Article 26. Ballots
1. Every two years, in every tenure of the commune people council, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Standing Committee and the personnel level organize ballot for the chairmen, vice chairmen of the commune people committee and the commune people council.
2. Components of the ballot consist of members of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, members of the standing committees of commune socio – political organizations, heads of the people inspection boards, heads of the community investment supervision board (if any), the Party Secretary, the village head, the people cluster head, and the commune Front head.
3. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Standing Committee at the commune level is to send results of the ballot and their recommendations to the commune people council and competent agencies and organizations.

Chapter VI
IMPLEMENTATOIN PROVISIONS

Article 27. Implementation effectiveness
1. This Ordinance takes effects since the 1st of July, 2007.
2. The Government’s Decree No. 79/2003/ND-CP of July 07, 2003 promulgating Regulations on implementation of democracy at the commune level is to be annulled since the effective date of this Ordinance.

Article 28. Implementation guidelines
The Government and the central Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee within their scope of responsibilities and powers are to provide guidelines on the contents stipulated at the Article 11, 14, 16, 22 and 26 of this Ordinance.

Hanoi, April 20, 2007
On behalf of the National Assembly Standing Committee
The Chairman

Nguyen Phu Trong

Religious Innovation in East Asia

This conference will be held on 28 - 30 November 2007 in Australia

In the last few decades, the religious scene across East Asia has changed in fundamental ways. Changes in government administration, communications technologies, the degree of urbanisation, levels of education, and increasing wealth have run parallel to a burgeoning of religious life. These years have seen a growth in new religious movements, new varieties of existing religions and new forms of religiosity. They have also seen an increased public presence and awareness of religious groups through involvement in mainstream politics, in opposition to the state, and by violent interventions as well as simply becoming more visible on the streets, in the media and on the web.

This conference seeks to explore these changes in China (including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau), Japan, South Korea and Vietnam and amongst their diasporic communities, and the background to them. Some of the themes on which papers may be suggested are:

- New religious movements
- New formations of Buddhism, Islam and other established religions
- Cultivation and self-cultivation, especially qigong and related activities
- Religious innovation in the diasporas
- Theoretical and methodological issues related to religious innovation
- Popular religion in contemporary societies

Major speakers will be invited from China, Japan and South Korea.

Suggestions for papers should be submitted to Anthony.Garnaut@anu.edu.au by May 31, 2007. Some travel funding is likely to be available for participants, including graduate students, from Australia and New Zealand.

The Role of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) in Poverty Alleviation and Biodiversity Conservation

The conference will be held on 11 - 15 June 2007, Sofitel Plaza Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

Background:

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) play an important role in the livelihoods of the rural poor, as a source of food, medicine, construction materials, and income. It has been estimated that there are more than 60 million highly forest-dependent people in Latin America, West Africa, and South East Asia, with an additional 400 million to 500 million people directly dependent on these natural products.

The Conference:

The Conference will be hosted by the NTFP Sub-Sector Support Project, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), The Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), The German Technical Cooperation (gtz), CARE International, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), The Regional Community Forestry
Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) and The Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO). It will bring together practitioners, entrepreneurs and researchers who are involved in NTFP initiatives that provide opportunities to address poverty reduction while maintaining biodiversity. Participants will share methodologies, approaches, product and market information and other lessons learned from NTFP development and conservation initiatives. The trade fair on the fourth day of the conference will provide an opportunity for NTFP producers to display their products and meet potential buyers.

Programme:

- June 11: Sessions on “Critical Elements for Successful NTFP Initiatives”

- June 12: Sessions on “Critical Elements for Successful NTFP Initiatives” (continued)

- June 13: Sessions on “The Business of NTFPs”

- June 14: NTFP Trade Fair

- June 15: NTFP Field Site Visit

Presentations:

- Papers: If you are interested in presenting a paper at the conference, please contact the Conference Contact Persons immediately for further information.

- Posters: There will be display areas for posters and documents. Please let us know by Monday, May 21^st if you would like to have a space for a display.

- Trade Fair: If you are interested in displaying your products at the trade fair please contact the Conference Contact Persons for registration forms and materials by Monday, May 21st . There is no fee to participate in the trade fair.

Registration:

A registration fee of $150 will be charged to International Participants ($50 for students). The fee will cover access to all conference events, documents, trade fair, coffee/tea breaks, lunches, a reception on the first day, and the field site visit. To register for the conference please complete the Registration Form and send it to the Conference Contact Persons by Monday, May 28th .

Conference Contact Persons:

Sarah Webster - Programme Assistant

IUCN Vietnam and NTFP Sub-Sector Suppor Project

44/4 Van Bao

Ba Dinh District, Hanoi

Office: 7.261.575/6 Ext. 133

Mobile: 0904 663 702

Email: sarahweb@iucn.org.vn

US Veterans Donate Aid to Young Agent Orange Victims

The Viet Nam Veterans of America Foundation has donated VND400,000 (US$25,000) to help poor and disabled people.

Priority has been given to Agent Orange victims in Can Tho City. The money will help build or repair homes as well as provide investment to boost household economy, according to guidelines approved recently by the provincial administration. It will also be used to pay for plastic surgery and rehabilitation for children with malfunctioning limbs and to improve the living conditions of disabled children at Can Tho City-based Tuong Lai (Future) school.

Labour & Education Vietnam Earmarks $1bln for Vocational Training

The government of Vietnam will pour $1 billion into vocational training in an effort to improve workforce quality, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the meeting with the Labor Ministry and representatives of all 64 provinces in Hanoi May 10 .

"One of the biggest challenges for Vietnam in the WTO period is low human resource quality, which affects the country's competitiveness in many fields," the Prime Minister noted, asking the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) to closely coordinate with other agencies to complete and submit to the government a plan on vocational training at the next monthly cabinet meeting.

The Prime Minister also suggested five measures to boost vocational training and pledged to give around $1 billion as soft loans for laborers to learn trades. He said labor export was not a long-term solution to creating stable jobs.

Since Vietnam has joined the WTO, demand for labor, especially technicians at industrial and export processing zones is very high. This year, the country plans to attract $12 billion foreign investment and the government plans to spend 40-45% of GDP for development. However, of the 44.4 million Vietnamese laborers, only 20% are trained, Head of MoLISA Nguyen Thi Hang said.

To balance labor supply and demand, vocational training is a must, but funding for this task is too modest, Director of the Department of Labor, Ward Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An province said, revealing that Nghe An had 3.1 million people, including 1.5 million of working age. However, it receives only VND2 billion ($125,000) for vocational training. Vocational training is very weak and didn't meet market needs, Minister Hang admitted, saying Vietnam lacks a labor market information and forecast system, hindering employers and trainers from meeting each other and creating an imbalance of labor supply in different areas. "In the next eight-ten years, foreign laborers, specifically Thai, will come to Vietnam. If we don't urgently train our workforce, we will be in high risk of losing the home market," Hang warned, adding that improving laborers' skills is the only way to keep the local market. Vietnam now has around 44.4 million people of working age. Of the total workforce, laborers in the State-owned sector account for 9.6%, those in the non-state-run sector made up 88.8 % and 1.6% in the foreign-invested sector. The country plans to raise the ratio of trained laborers from 20% last year to 32% by 2010, to meet the higher requirements of domestic and foreign businesses.

Culture & Society Rich-Poor Gap Widening in Vietnam

Disparity between the poor and the rich in Vietnam is expanding, said a workshop entitled "Updates on Poverty Rates 2006", recently held by the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences and World Bank (WB).

The report said the ratio of per capita expenditures of the richest in Vietnam compared with the poorest rose to 6.3 in 2004, from 5.0 in 1993. The average purchasing rate of the richest increased to 44.7% from 41.8% of the total during the same period, while the rate in poorest group fell from 8.4% to 7.1%.

According to UNDP, income disparity between the rich and the poor, or Gino ratio, of Vietnam stays at 36.2, ranking the third after China (40.3) and Russia (45.6). Currently, as Vietnam sees economic growth; the poor only take 76.6% of the gains, while the rich enjoy 115%. Per capita income in rural areas was 2.15 times less than in urban areas, or $23.6 a month compared with $60. The disparity of the richest area in the South was 3.13 times higher than the poorest in the North, according to the General Statistic Department source. Also in the report, the national poverty rate in 2004 was 19.5% with more than 16 million people living below the level of $0.3 a day; 10-20 times lower than state employees. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts compare Vietnam's current situation with Thailand and the Philippines two decades ago.

These two countries invested about 30-40% of GDP to reach growth of 12% while Vietnam poured up to 60% GDP but annual growth speed remains at a modest 6-7%. State-owned enterprises are blamed for this issue and the widening gap between the poor and the rich, due to corruption under government subsidies. To narrow the gap, the workshop points out four solutions focusing on rapid change of investment direction in private-owned firms; managing adjustments in hunger elimination and poverty reduction programs; anti-corruption campaign; and job creation in rural areas. Truong Gia Binh, general director of FPT Corp, is named the richest man in Vietnam with VND2.4 trillion or $150 million, a recent Vnexpress survey showed.

Labor & Education U.S Offers Disabled Vietnamese Student IT Training

The US is sponsoring a two-year Information Technology Training Program with over $380,000, providing disabled graduates the skills needed to find high-paying jobs in Vietnam's growing IT market, said the US embassy.

The program is to be run by Hanoi College of Information, with additional support from Catholic Relief Services, and will train up to 375 vision, hearing and mobility impaired students in skills that should lead to good jobs in Vietnam's information technology industry. The ongoing partnership between the United States and Vietnam is assisting the disabled, the US Deputy Chief of Mission Jonathan Aloisi noted in a dedication ceremony May 11. "In recent years, the US Government has provided approximately $43 million to assist persons with disabilities in Vietnam - and these efforts will continue." Mr. Aloisi revealed, explaining this project is only one part of a broad US effort to work with Vietnamese partners in a large number of areas. Currently, an estimated 2.5 million children in Vietnam need special support, including 150,000 orphans, over one million disabled children, 16,000 street children and 23,000 child laborers. Among them, few have the opportunity to go to school. Since 1998, the Vietnamese government has implemented the Ordinance on the Protection of Handicapped People, supporting their studies and integration into the community.

US Helps Vietnam Counter HIV/AIDS

In a ceremony at the Ministry of Health on May 9 afternoon, US Ambassador Michael W. Marine presented the 2007 Country Operational Plan (COP) to Minister Chien in support of the Government of Vietnam’s HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment efforts.

In his remarks, Ambassador Marine renewed the commitment of the United States to work as Vietnam’s partner in fighting this fatal disease.

“The bilateral relationship and myriad areas of co-operation our two countries share are enhanced by our partnership in battling the terrible disease of HIV/AIDS and its many consequences,” said the Ambassador.

The 2007 annual plan lays out how we will spend US $59 million to carry out a joint U.S. and Government of Vietnam vision to support prevention, care and treatment. The activities described in the plan have been developed in co-ordination with the Ministry of Health and other partners to provide support for priority programs of action within the Vietnam National Strategy for HIV and AIDS Control. To strengthen HIV prevention programmes, the Office of the Global AIDS Co-ordinator has also approved more than US $1,000,000 in additional 2007 funds that will be used to support different partners to expand outreach efforts, train more Vietnamese drug abuse counselors and support programs for youth.

2007 Directory of State Organisations of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

For some odd reason the 2007 edition of the "Directory of State Organisations of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam", issued by UNDP in Ha Noi, was not allowed to be posted on the UNDP VN website.

The document was compiled in February 2007 and it contans a wealth of information about central and local government offices.

We have located it at the top of the eForum page at our Australian National
University website.

You can access it either as a web page or as a pdf file.

http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/dir07/index.htm

The Directory has been an important resource for development professionals
since the early 1990's.

Australian-Funded Project to Increase Women Farmers’ Income

Australia will finance a scheme to help Vietnam's women farmers earn more from their crops by switching to more sought-after fruit and vegetable varieties such as spiny cucumber and melons, said Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Bill Tweddell, at a seminar in Hanoi on May 7.

The seminar was held to look at women’s roles in producing, distributing and using vegetable varieties in Vietnam. This is part of an Australian-funded programme on sustainable development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction that has a yearly budget of US$50 million.

Speaking at the seminar jointly organised by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Vietnam Women’s Union, State Vice President Truong My Hoa hoped that Australia’s aid would prove to be significant for not only Vietnamese women but for society as a whole. With almost 80 percent of the country's population residing in rural areas, agriculture plays an important role in Vietnam’s broader economy. There are around 650,000 ha of vegetable nationwide that yield close to 1 million tonnes of vegetables per annum.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to develop higher priced varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs in an effort to eradicate poverty in rural areas.

Civil Society in Vietnam: Moving from the Margins to the Mainstream

By Gita Sabharwal and Than Thi Thien Huong

Introduction

1. This paper presents an overview of civil society in Vietnam. It begins by defining civil society and what it means in the context of this country. It then presents an overview of the current state of play of the different elements of civil society organisations and the overarching legal framework in which they operate. It examines the engagement of donors with civil society. In conclusion, it sets out the need to develop a common shared approach and strategy for engagement with civil society in Vietnam.

Changing Context

2. The broad based political organisation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) combined with the tradition of a one party state until recently allowed for little space for growth of an independent civil society. The political discourse of the CPV was not supportive of organisational expression of collective identity and interest outside the framework of the Party. Though Vietnam in the past had a rich associational life civil society as understood in mainstream development practice has remained underdeveloped. Mass organisations have been the largest and most dominant of social groupings. They occupied the space that civil society organisations tend to occupy across other countries and political contexts.

3. However, since doi moi the political and economic context is rapidly changing characterised by opening up of the economy and a move towards global integration. This has led to the emergence of social groupings outside the party. Some have argued that since mid 1990s the institutional environment appears to be shifting from a total state domination of development activity to an acceptance of the contribution of other development actors. In other words, Vietnam can be described as characterised by a low but increasing tolerance of autonomous civil activity though civil society remains a politically sensitive issue.

4. There are two broad trends that one notices over the past decade. Firstly there has been the growth of development NGOs essentially different from the organisations that emerged as a product of the retrenchment process during the late 1980s. Secondly, there has been a mushrooming of associations – voluntary, non-profit, non-Governmental, community based, grassroots and cooperative. These associations fulfil a variety of roles ranging from organising activities, to income generation to disseminating knowledge. These new associational forms together with the mass organisations provide material assistance to the poor but do not engage in public debates about policy.

5. The current interplay between government and civil society groupings in terms of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and NGOs, or “institutional environment”, appears to be shifting from a total state domination of development activity, to an acceptance of the contribution that other players may bring. The Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2000-2010) and the draft Socio-Economic Development Plan (2006-2010) reflect this changing context and set out a challenging role for CSOs in Vietnam. Broadly, this covers three areas of action:

1. Strengthening the decentralisations process through the Grassroots Democracy Decree i.e. enhancing accountability of governments at the provincial, district and commune level;
2. Enhancing the participation of poor in the development planning, implementation and monitoring i.e. strengthening voice of the poor in policy making and implementation; and
3. Supporting service delivery for poverty elimination with particular focus on HIV/AIDS and social safety nets i.e. improving access to the hard to reach.

6. It is worth noting that this shift has taken place gradually, with CSOs now emerging at the margins of development context. This has been helped by building of relationship of trust between government departments and specific INGOs. As evident from the SEDP there is now recognition from the highest levels that civil society organisations may have a more mainstream role to play in the development of the country and taking action against poverty. However, this role or range of roles has yet to be fully defined by government or by civil society itself. There is much potential for facilitating CSOs movement from the margins to the mainstream of development action and increasing their impact on the policy-making process.

Civil Society Spectrum in Vietnam

7. The term “civil society” is defined as “the broad range of organised groupings which occupy the public space between the state and the individual citizen” . The term civil society is used in development circles in Vietnam. However, its use is recent, and as a conceptual base for understanding interconnections between various civil society actors, there is much work to be done in developing a common, meaningful and locally relevant definition.

8. Civil society in Vietnam can be described as consisting of a range of organisations, which when organised along a spectrum consist of CBOs at one end of the spectrum and research based organisations and INGOs at the other end. There are several other elements that fall between these two ends such as mass organisations, cooperatives, social and charity funds and Local NGOs etc. Its important to note that in the context of Vietnam, the media and the private sector are not being considered as part of civil society at this point in time.

9. At the lower end of the civil society spectrum are the CBOs or organisations of the poor such as water user groups, savings and credit groups, farmers collective etc. Most activities undertaken by the CBOs are financially sustainable and their emergence is closely associated with donor/INGO development interventions.

10. Occupying the middle band of the civil society spectrum are cooperatives, mass organisations, social and charity funds and Local NGOs. It’s worth examining each separately, as they play different roles and have potential to develop further. The new Cooperatives are largely emerging through endogenous processes. They provide the opportunity for a new generation of local leaders to seize economic opportunities by organising farmers to produce and market their goods collectively.

11. Mass organisations are redefining their role and position in the rapidly changing development context of Vietnam. Over the past decade they have proved to be effective in reaching services down to the communes. They are an important vehicle for improving access of services specifically across the poorest provinces but are not effective in promoting accountability of local government’s. Mass organisations are largely funded by the Party though increasingly they are collaborating with INGOs to implement development programmes.

12. Charities are engaged in reaching services mainly to the urban poor. They are largely supported by domestic donations. In the future charities will continue to play a role in enhancing access to the hard to reach urban poor.

13. NGOs are the latest entrant and are developing their identity while progressively widening their remit, function and outreach. Financial resources, capacity and the legal framework remain a key constraint. In the long run they have an important role to play in enhancing accountability, voice and access.

14. At the higher end of the civil society spectrum INGOs occupy the space that NGOs tend to occupy in other developing countries in South Asia. They are largely engaged in implementing development programmes at the level of the commune/district and piloting innovative development interventions for poverty reduction. More recently there has been a trend amongst some of the more progressive INGOs to operate through LNGOs. This has allowed them to strengthen the LNGO capacity in implementing development programmes while increasing their outreach. Some have successfully engaged in the policy making process of the state while others have been engaging in issue based advocacy. In the long run, as capacities of local NGOs develop they will need to redefine their role vis a vis the emerging development context of Vietnam.

15. Research institutions operate within the framework of the government and ministries. They are not always an “independent voice” that tables’ alternative analysis and contributes to evidence based policy making. In the future, they have a critical role to play.

16. The local CSOs in Vietnam tend to be densely concentrated along the Red River and Mekong delta of Vietnam. The few development oriented NGOs have now begun to spread their operations into some of the poorer provinces of the country. Most well off provinces have small savings and credit groups, water user associations, NGOs and INGOs. But their spread begins to thin pretty fast as one moves to the highlands.

17. Data suggests that there are roughly 140,000 CBOs, 3,000 cooperatives under the new law with most of them operating in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, construction, sanitation and health care. There are about 200 charities and 1000 Local NGOs that are registered. However, we need to bear in mind that over the past decade the number of CSOs is rapidly growing and these figures are rough indication of the density of CSOs in Vietnam.

Legal Framework for Civil Society: Fixing the Parts & Missing the Whole

18. The legal framework is constantly evolving to keep pace with the challenging role that the government has set for civil society. Individual decrees relating to different elements of civil society have been issued in the recent past. These decrees/laws provide the basis for the establishment of civil organisations that operate relatively independent of the state. However, these ad hoc regulations do not add up to a comprehensive and clear legal framework for the formation and operation of NGOs/CSOs. This is also an indication that the issue of “independent” civil society organisations remains political sensitive.

19. Broadly, there are five important decree/laws currently in existence, which govern different elements of civil society organisations in Vietnam. The laws and decrees show clarity of purpose for cooperatives, CBOs and charities. The Grassroots Democracy Decree 79 (2003) institutionalises the participation of local communities/CBOs/organisations of the poor in development activities at the level of the commune. This is seen as an important step in the development of civil society in Vietnam. The law on Cooperatives recognises cooperatives as voluntary organisations functioning as independent economic entities. The law on Science and Technology recognises professional associations as independent service organisations with the only option available to most development NGOs. The decree 177 recognises charity and social funds. Lastly, the law on Associations is currently under revision by the NGO Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is hoped that the law, which is in its 10th draft, will define the concept of NGOs along with their role, function and management arrangements. The only option currently available to development NGOs is to be registered under the law on science and technology. This requires them to justify and link their existence and operation to science and technology.

20. The analysis of these decrees confirms that the Government is keen to set out roles and responsibilities for the new forms of associational life that emerge.

Donors Engagement with Civil Society

21. Donors in Vietnam do not have an explicit approach or strategy for engaging with civil society organisations. For most bilateral organisations the small grant scheme provides the organising framework for engagement with civil society organisations. Some multilaterals particularly the UNDP and ADB also have similar schemes. Support under these schemes is not positioned to be strategic in nature. They generally support small ad hoc projects ranging from income generation to training, service delivery, awareness generation programmes to human rights and democracy promotion.

22. There are many donor-funded initiatives to support research capacity in a wide range of policy-related fields. Analysis suggests that support is limited to three or four research organisations, some of the regional universities and ministry based research bodies. Most of this support is for Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and its different institutes such as Institute of Economics, Institute of Sociology and Centre for Analysis and Forecast. Central Institute of Economic Management and the Vietnam National University along with Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association are some of the other research bodies that are currently being supported.

23. Support to research organisations is largely focussed on building capacity of Vietnamese researchers. The link between research and policy related analysis is not always explicit across these projects. Donors also support new areas of research such as WTO with specific thematic focus such as gender. Most of this support remains ad hoc with little attempt at rationalising engagement and offering comprehensive funding for capacity building.

Conclusions

24. The embryonic stage of civil society in Vietnam and the continued political concerns and sensitivities around its development makes the task of strengthening this sector a challenge. Engagement in this sector will require the donor community and the government to develop a common shared approach and strategy to support civil society to move from the margins into the mainstream of development practice and debate. With Vietnam currently engaged in developing its five-year plan and with its rapid integration into the world economy, the time may just be right for the donor community to start this process in close consultation with the government.

2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner’s heart for Vietnam

Source: VietNamNet Bridge

As news agencies reported that the Norwegian Nobel Committee had decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2006 to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, though it was midnight, many people who are working for hunger eradication and poverty alleviation organisations in Vietnam informed each other about this good news. That’s because Muhammad Yunus has had a strong attachment to Vietnam for more than a decade.

It was a very hard period of time for Dr Muhammad Yunus: trying to establish the Grameen Bank with only $27.

“If all leaves in all forests on all continents could be turned into paper, if sea water in all oceans could become ink, these volumes of paper and ink couldn't record the difficulties that Grameen Bank experienced.”

That’s what he told us - the first delegation from Vietnam to come to Bangladesh to learn how to loan to the poor.

The word "microcredit" did not exist before the seventies. Now it has become a buzz-word among development practitioners. In the process, the word has been imputed to mean everything to everybody. No one now gets shocked if somebody uses the term "microcredit" to mean agricultural credit, or rural credit, or cooperative credit, or consumer credit, credit from the savings and loan associations, or from credit unions, or from money lenders.

We visited many branches of Grameen Bank in various regions in Bangladesh as well as had meetings with many families. At that time, Grameen gave us surprise after surprise. Clients of this bank are poor and very poor women. We didn’t believe our eyes when we visited their houses, which were huts enclosed by the core of one kind of tree that is similar to jute and roofed by the leaves of a tree like sugarcane in Vietnam. Those houses were totally empty, without beds, clothes, and even bowls and plates.

One special thing that we learnt from Prof. Mahammad, the leader of the Grameen Bank, the father of the “micro-credit”, is the theory on hunger and poverty and the solution to this problem. Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights.

Returning to Vietnam with knowledge and skills in micro-credit management under the Grameen method and the images of the bank’s talented and honest leader, we contributed to the establishment of the Fund of Affection for poor women.

The fund was founded in 1992 by the Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee under the assistance of the Japan Community Development Fund, the Asia Pacific Development Centre (APDC – 1993). The Secretary General of APDC at that time, Dr. Getubic, encouraged us to apply the model of Grameen Bank in Vietnam.

The Grameen Trust also loaned this project $21,000 at a soft interest rate, including a commitment: “if this model is successful in Vietnam, the Grameen Trust will give the loan and interest money to the project in Vietnam”.

Dr Muhammad not only successfully demonstrated his theories through the Grameen programme in his country, but also helped many other countries in the world to use this method. He always follows the development of the credit programme for the poor in Vietnam and is always ready to help Vietnam train staff, share experiences and advertise the image of Vietnam.

At the invitation of the Vietnam Women’s Union, he paid his first visit to Vietnam in 1995. Immediately after arriving at the Noi Bai International Airport, he proposed a visit to a branch of the Fund of Affection in suburban Soc Son District of Hanoi.

During this visit, he met with Vietnamese leaders like former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and President of the National Committee for the Advancement of Women Truong My Hoa, officials from the State Bank of Vietnam and the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

At those meetings, he highly praised Vietnam’s resistance wars for independence and unity and expressed the belief that Vietnam could successfully deal with hunger and poverty. He was also ready to share his experiences in hunger eradication and poverty reduction with Vietnam.

Talking about the role of micro-finance in the market and its prospects when the operation of commercial banks developed, he said: “if we consider the official financial system and commercial banks as big rivers bringing capital to localities, micro-credit is like canals bringing capital to each family”. So naturally, at any time, any place, micro-credit is still necessary.

After this visit, Vietnamese leaders like Phan Van Khai, Truong My Hoa and Vo Thi Thang paid a visit to Bangladesh and the Grameen Bank. Officials of the SBV also studied the model and experiences of the Grameen Bank.

Two big organisations in Vietnam that apply the Grameen method, the CEP Fund in HCM City and the Fund for Affection of the Vietnam Women’s Union Central Committee, have become members of the global Grameen system. Former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet visited the branch of the Fund for Affection in Soc Son District and encouraged the development of this model in Vietnam. After that, US First Lady Hillary Clinton also paid a visit to this branch.

Prof, Dr. Muhammad Yunus came to HCM City in May 2005 and June 2005 after his first visit to Vietnam in 1995.

At a seminar in HCM City in June 2005, he gave a speech that contained important suggestions about the roles of the government and the law in micro-credit activities.

His Vietnamese students have applied and developed the Grameen method in Vietnam effectively. The three organisations that officially use the Grameen Bank model in Vietnam, the Fund of Affection, CEP Fund, and the M7 Micro-credit network, cover 16 provinces and 130,000 poor and very poor families. Those organisations can become micro-credit institutions under the Decree 28/2005/ND-CP of the government.

The impacts of the Grameen method on the operations of the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and the Policy Bank in Vietnam are also clear as those banks have used the method of lending in groups.

Hundreds of thousands of poor people in Vietnam who benefit from the Grameen method know him, the founder and developer of the method of lending to the poor effectively. Thanks to his method their lives have changed.

Biodiversity and Climate Change: Links with Poverty and Sustainable Development

The German Development Cooperation (GTZ/DED) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) as well as other national and international partners organise this conference from May 22-23, 2007 in Ha Noi

Session's titels of the full 2-day-Conference are:

- Challenges of Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss for South East Asian Countries: Links to Poverty and Sustainable Development

- Impacts of Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss on Different Economic Sectors

- Integrating Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Aspects in National and Sectoral Strategies in Vietnam
- Regional and Local Approaches on Climate Change Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation / Case Studies
- Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation and Biodiversity Conservation in Donor Strategies

The conference provides a forum for decision makers, researchers, development agencies, non-governmental organisations and the concered public to exchange expertise and experiences in the regional context, discuss and assess emerging adaptation strategies and to provide a platform for networking and collaboration among relevant actors.

The conference is interlinked with the Biodiversity Action Day in Tam Dao National Park on May 19 that gives visitors from all walks of life a direct experience of nature and the opportunity to experience biodiversity conservation and climate change issues in a practical context. A series of cultural and artistic performances accompany the events.

Please find attached several documents relating to the upcoming events:

Concept Paper

Announcement

Registration

Overview Conference

Contact details:
Ines Igney

Email: inesig@gmail.com
Mobile : +84 (0) 917511447
Tel.: +84 (0) 4 9344951
Tel. direct:+84 (0) 4 936 2280 - 124
Fax: +84 (0) 4 934 4950

Disabled kids get special visit

The wife of the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Lesley Stuttard, visited a school for children with disabilities in Hanoi on May 3 as part of a charity drive.

In Sao Mai (Morning Star) School, Lady Stuttard, along with the wife of London’s Sheriff, joined more than 1,000 mentally disabled children from 18 months to 16 years. There, she doled out specially-designed toys that promote learning.

“I am impressed by what I see, particularly the number of staff in comparison to the number of children and dedication of those staff,” she said. “The idea of early intervention by their parents in crucially important.”

The tour was part of the Lord Mayor Appeal, an initiative that sees the head of England’s biggest City Corporation support charities.

During her visit to Vietnam, Stuttard’s schedule was filled with activities related to education for disabled children, including visits to the Special Education Faculty of Teachers’ Training College at the National University in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City’s Research and Education Centre for Disabled Children.

Stuttard said she hoped the number of special education schools would increase.

Not many Vietnamese children with disabilities go to school. In Hanoi, only 30% of disabled children attend classes, according to Do Thuy Lan, director of Sao Mai School and member of a national association for disabled children.

Source: VNA

National environmental week launched

A meeting was held in Vinh Yen town, the northern midland province of Vinh Phuc, on May 4 to launch the national week for safe water and environmental hygiene.

The national week for safe water and environmental hygiene called on all sectors and localities to raise the people’s awareness about the importance of environmental hygiene, safe water management, and protection of water sources.

It also draws the people’s attention to the need of waste management, particularly waste from industrial parks, in order to ensure safe water and environment.

After the meeting, participants joined the local people to organise parades along major streets in Vinh Yen and plant trees in the surrounding areas.

The meeting, jointly held by the National Steering Board on Safe Water and Environmental Hygiene, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, the Vietnamese Farmers’ Association, the Committee for Ethnic Minority and the provincial People’s Committee, drew the participation of some 3,000 local people.

Source: VNA