Vietnamese Non-profit Times

Teaching hip hop to homeless children

2007-10-02T03:05:00.001-07:00

Source: ThanhNien News

Those who frequent stages in Saigon may be familiar with a hip hop group of 9 homeless kids called Baby Action, who have turned into dancers thanks to their teacher’s kindness.

When Luu Huynh Lam first opened a small hip hop class at his residence in Nha Be district, HCM City in 2004, he saw some young kids come to watch him and his students every day. "Some of them then approached me, begging me to allow them to pay monthly tuition fees by installments – one thousand dong every day,” said the 28-year-old teacher.

Luu Huynh Lam said these were chiefly homeless kids who supported themselves by selling lottery tickets. After inquiring about these children’s family backgrounds, teacher Lam was very touched and decided to bring them all home to provide them with hip hop lessons – as well as many other things.

The kids are from 5 to 14 years old of age. Some are orphans. Some were sent to live in pagodas since their parents are too poor. But they all love to learn hip hop. So in the morning, Lam sends them all to Phuoc Kieng Elementary School. From 2 to 4 pm in the afternoon, they practice dancing hip hop.

As for evenings, these are reserved for performances on numerous stages throughout the city like Trong Dong, 126, Lan Anh or Dam Sen. There are also days when they are invited to perform out of the city. One may wonder how teacher Lam pays for all of this.

For every performance, Baby Action earns from VND300,000 to 500,000, which isn’t much, and is making their teacher worried. He said that on sunny days, he and his young hip hop dancers did all right. But on rainy ones, people aren’t inclined to go to stages to watch shows, hip-hop or otherwise.

"So I have been calculating a great deal – about how to have enough money to give them food, pay their school fees and buy them clothes, as well as give each of them around VND700,000 every month to help support their remaining relatives,” said Lam.

Despite material difficulties, Lam said he told the kids that if they wanted to pursue some particular career, they only needed to tell him, and he would save money to send them off on their chosen road.

As for the short-term plan, Lam said if possible, he would buy career insurance for Baby Action, since dancing, especially hip-hop dancing, is quite a dangerous profession.

UN, Vietnam youth discuss plan for volunteer resource center

2007-10-02T03:03:00.000-07:00

Source: ThanhNien News

The United Nations Volunteers and the Vietnam Youth Union discussed Thursday a plan to set up a volunteer resource center to provide information about local and international voluntary work.

A seminar held to set up the Vietnam Volunteer Information Resource Center (VVIRC): 3-year Strategic Plan and Acting Sectors, was presided by the first secretary of the Vietnam Youth Union, Vo Van Thuong, and director of the UNV in Vietnam, Setsuko Yamazaki.

Delegates drawing up the plan focused on three key areas – Information, Action; Mechanism, Policy, Law Enforcement; and Capacity Building.

VVIRC Established this June is the cooperation between the UNV and the Vietnam Youth Union, aiming at providing the youth with comprehensive information about local and international voluntary positions.

UNV is the UN program that supports global human development by promoting volunteerism and mobilizing volunteers.

It was created by the UN General Assembly in 1970 and has been administered since by UNDP. It is operating among growing recognition that volunteerism makes important contributions, economically and socially, to more cohesive societies by building trust and reciprocity among citizens.

Germany offers annual scholarships

2007-10-02T03:02:00.000-07:00

Source: VNA

Germany plans to offer 85 Vietnamese students scholarships to study at Hessen State-based universities annually.

The good news was announced by Permanent Deputy Minister of Education and Training Banh Tien Long at the end of his four-day visit to Germany on September 27.

The scholarships are part of Ho Chi Minh City ’s Germany-Viet Nam University (GVU) project. During his visit Long met with Hessen State Minister of Sciences and Arts Udo Corts to discuss the establishment of the German-Vietnam university.

They agreed that 80 percent of the faculty would be German and 20 percent Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese delegation also visited three German universities that are included in the GVU project – Justus Liebig Kiien, Kassel and Frankfurt .

A memorandum of understanding on the 3,000-student university project, which is scheduled to start next year, was signed last May.

Japan, ADB fund Vietnam vitamin A, deworming tablet program

2007-10-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Source: ADB

Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Vietnam US$1 million for distributing vitamin A and deworming tablets to poor children under five years in 18 provinces.

The grant would help improve the health, growth, and cognitive development of poor children in the country, the ADB said in a press release Tuesday.

It would support Vietnam’s “already highly effective” vitamin A distribution program to further develop and reach a greater number of children, it said. A current government program reaches children up to three years of age.

It would also “expand the health benefits” by adding a deworming tablet to the twice-yearly distribution routine, the release said.

The 18 provinces benefiting the project are recognized as having high rates of malnutrition among poor and vulnerable children between the ages of six months and five years.

The project will be carried out by the National Institute of Nutrition in collaboration with the National Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology (NIMPE), the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the University of Melbourne, Australia.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.2 million with the Vietnamese government providing the remaining amount.

ADB will support the project for three years.

During that time, the government’s share of the cost will gradually increase and reach 100 percent by the time the project ends, ensuring sustainability and extended benefits.

Dutch-funded development project helps the poor

2007-09-09T02:43:00.001-07:00

The 2nd phase of a community development project, funded by the Netherlands Red Cross, recently kicked off in seven poorest communes, which have been usually ravaged by natural calamities, in five provinces, the Vietnam Red Cross said on September 6.

The project, carried out from August 2007-August 2009 at the cost of over EUR 210,000, will ensure safe water supply, guide local people to keep environmental hygiene to prevent epidemics and common diseases, improve the locals' living conditions through economic development and increase the poor's income; and help the community take measures and solutions for the sustainable development.

The project will bring benefits to about 22,000 people, especially the handicapped and poor women, in the communes of Can Ty (northern Ha Giang province), Luong Can (northern Cao Bang province), Khang Ninh (northern Bac Can province), Phuoc Chien and Phuoc Khang (central Ninh Thuan province), Tan Xuan and Son My (central Binh Thuan province).

The first phase of the project, also implemented in these communes from May 2005 to October 2006 with the involvement of the local community and authorities, helped initially change the living conditions for the poorest.

Source: VNA

Ford Foundation helps settle AO problems

2007-09-09T02:42:00.001-07:00

The Ford Foundation will give US $7.5 million to carry out Agent Orange recuperation programmes in Vietnam on the next two years, said Dr. Charles Bailey, Head of the Ford Foundation office in Hanoi.

The Ford Foundation official announced the sum while he met with Deputy Foreign Minister Le Van Bang in Hanoi to mark the end of his 10-year term of office in Vietnam.

Bailey praised the effective cooperation of the Vietnamese Government and partners in the implementation of Ford Foundation-funded projects and programmes.

Deputy FM Bang announced that the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry decided to present Bailey with the insignia “For the cause of Foreign Affairs”.

Bang highly appreciated Bailey’s great contributions in mobilising capital sources for humanitarian and development projects and programmes over the past decade, especially his work with Agent Orange in the country.

The Deputy FM expressed his belief that in his new position as Director of the US Special Initiative on the Agent Orange/Dioxin fund, Bailey would continue to work tirelessly for victims and in particular AO child victims.

Source: VNA

A shelter for disabled children

2007-09-09T02:40:00.001-07:00

Since 2001, Que Huong Charity Centre in Ho Chi Minh City has received and nurtured over 2,000 orphan and disabled children. Its success is attributed to the great efforts of the Centre’s Director Huynh Tieu Huong who overcame her own misfortunes to build the shelter.

Visiting the Centre, one can’t help being moved when they see the orphaned and paralysed children, who look doltish with their deformities, being taken in and taught to write, sing, dance, work and play. In this great family, all the children live happily with the love of their mother, Huynh Tieu Huong.

Born in 1968, Huynh Tieu Huong suffered a miserable childhood. She doesn’t know her mother and father. At the age of six, she had to earn her own living by selling tea and cigarettes on trains travelling from the South to the Central region, cleaning cars at the Eastern Car Station, working as a waitress in restaurants or even living in gold grounds in Ha Tinh and Nghe An Provinces. For over 20 years, she lived a hard life on the streets and experienced much physical and mental anguish so she always dreamed of a shelter to herself.

With the assistance from private donors and organizations, she established Que Huong Charity Centre to help the dejected children and as she said she would do utmost to do many useful things. Although she established the Centre only six years ago, she has received orphaned and disabled children for 17 years and nurtured them with her own money. Through self teaching she learned English and Chinese and produced some products to earn money.

During a visit to the Centre, Vice State President Truong My Hoa, Honourary Chairwoman of the Vietnam Disabled Children Aid Association, highly appreciated the benevolence of Tieu Huong who is not only dedicated to children in her centre but is also active in many charity activities. Over the years, the Centre presented about 10,000 wheelchairs and 370 bikes to the disabled, 1,200 scholarships to poor students and built 75 houses for families in difficult circumstances.

The Centre was built on an area of 3,800m2 in Di An District, Binh Duong Province , with a total investment capital of 8 billion VND. It consists of comfortable bedrooms, dinning rooms, classrooms, a playground, and rooms for vocational training. It also established workshops producing mineral water and many handicraft and fine arts articles to create jobs for the children and earn money for activities of the Centre. At present the Centre nurtures about 300 children, including 38 children under five months old. Almost all of the children here suffer due to deformities. The Centre has a staff of nurses who grew up in the Centre and volunteer to take care of the children.

Coming here, we were very moved by a wall covered with papers with writings from the children, expressing their gratitude, aspiration for family affection and love for life.

Oxfam funds typhoon victims

2007-09-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

Source: Nhan Dan Online

US $220,000 of Oxfam funding has been approved for the first relief phase, providing more than seven thousand most affected and vulnerable households with immediate cash grants to buy nutritious food and other basic needs, said Oxfam Vietnam.

They said consideration would also be used for activities such as cleaning wells to help villagers get better access to safe water, and providing hygiene and sanitation information and support to reduce public health risks from communicable diseases and contaminated water supplies.

This new project is planned to consist of two phases implemented over the next eight months in the 12 communes in two mountainous districts, Vu Quang and Huong Khe.

The second phase of the project plans to focus on rehabilitation activities, helping the most affected households to restore their farmland or vegetable gardens, ready for the coming crops.

“The project aims to support the local government response and to work in partnership with them,” said Mr Provash Mondal, Oxfam Humanitarian Programme Co-ordinator in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s Typhoon No 2 brought heavy rains causing severe flooding in the six provinces, killing dozens of people. Ha Tinh and Quang Binh in the Northern Central region were the hardest hit provinces.

The flood was reported as the most devastating since 1944. About 130,000 people or ten percent of the resident population have been severely affected by the floods in Ha Tinh, with 80% of these people inhabiting the mountainous districts of Vu Quang and Huong Khe.

Thai group offers $43,200 in scholarships

2007-09-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

Siam Cement Group granted 350 scholarships worth a total of VND700 million (US$43,200) to disadvantaged high school students in southern provinces last week.

Students from Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh, Binh Thuan and Ho Chi Minh City each received a VND2 million scholarship.

This scholarship program, called “Sharing the Dream,” works in partnership with Tuoi Tre newspaper’s “For Tomorrow Development” Program.

The program is one of the first initiatives started by SCG’s corporate responsibility program in Vietnam. These scholarships benefit outstanding underprivileged students to help them pursue higher education.

Source: VNA

Innovative Approaches to Flood Risk Reduction in the Mekong Basin

2007-09-09T02:30:00.000-07:00

A two-day Regional Workshop on Innovative Approaches to Flood Risk Reduction in the Mekong Basin on 17-19 October 2007 in Thailand, which is being jointly organized by MRC and ADPC with funding support from Die DeutscheGesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH

The workshop objectives are to:

- Share local and regional knowledge, experiences and innovations in flood risk reduction approaches;

- Provide a platform to foster new regional partnerships as well as strengthen the existing ones to promote flood risk reduction in the region

In this regard we would request any organizations interested to participate in this workshop.

For further inquiries on the Workshop, please visit:
http://www.adpc.net/regionalworkshop.asp

and contact: E-mail: regionalworkshop@gmail.com

For more information on FEMS please contact:

Mr. Thanongdeth Insisiengmay, ADPC Program Manager

MRC’s Regional Flood Management and Mitigation Centre (RFMMC)

364 Monivong Blvd. Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Tel.: 855-23 726 622, Fax: 855-23 726 633

E-mail: thanongdeth@adpc.net

Canada helps storm victims in central region

2007-09-09T02:26:00.000-07:00

Source: Nhan Dan Online

The Embassy of Canadian announced today a grant of VND 3,05 billion (equivalent to CAN $200,000) in response to the needs of localities affected by typhoon Pabuk (Storm No 2).

The grant will be disbursed through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives, to help restore production; repair and rebuild houses and small social welfare infrastructure in provinces most affected by the typhoon in the Central Vietnam, said the Embassy.

In December 2006, the Embassy of Canada also granted CAN $200,000 through the Canada Fund to help victims of typhoon Xangsane in Da Nang City, Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam Provinces.

The Canada Fund was established by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and is administered by the Canadian Embassy in Hanoi to strengthen local communities by supporting small, but innovative development projects.

Since 1991, it has supported over 400 projects in various sectors of mainly local and non governmental groups in Vietnam.

Globalization, Regional Development & Local Initiatives

2007-09-09T02:25:00.002-07:00

This conference will be held from 25 November to 2 December 2007

The Weitz Center for Development Studies, founded in 1963, has been engaged since its establishment in local and regional development planning in Israel and, within the framework of MASHAV (Center for International Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel).

More than 3,000 professionals have taken part in the Weitz Center training programs, whose objective is to enhance the ability of participants to improve conditions in underdeveloped regions of their countries through an integrated development strategy and the application of appropriate methodologies for planning and implementation.

Please click here for more information

US Aims to Double Vietnamese Scholarships

2007-09-09T02:25:00.001-07:00

New US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak said he aimed to double the number of US scholarships granted to Vietnamese at Fulbright Vietnam’s 15th anniversary ceremony on Saturday.

The US ambassador also said such a program could help Vietnam reach its goal of
training 20,000 new doctors within the next 10 years.

Tran Xuan Thao, director of Fulbright Vietnam, added that if Vietnamese authorities co-sponsored 20-30 percent of the Fulbright program, many more Vietnamese graduates would be able to attend schools in the US. Over 100 Vietnamese formerly sponsored by the Fulbright scholarship attended the anniversary event in the central historic city of Hue. The Fulbright Program was established by the US Congress in 1946 and aims to increase transnational understanding through educational and cultural exchange. The Fulbright Program in Vietnam, administered and coordinated by the Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the US Embassy in Hanoi, works with appropriate Vietnamese and American educational and governmental organizations to provide opportunities for study and research in the social sciences and humanities.

Vietnam Need $481 Million for Classroom Consolidation by 2010

2007-09-09T02:23:00.000-07:00

Vietnam is in need of an additional VND7.7 trillion ($481 million) to replace all temporary classrooms nationwide between now and 2010, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) estimated.

The country launched a national plan to replace makeshift classrooms with permanent buildings with the total cost of more than VND9.3 trillion ($581million) sourced from the central and local budgets as well as donations from businesses and individuals. More than 74,000 classrooms have been built through the plan, benefiting three million children, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Thien Nhan at a conference in Hanoi August 23

Nhan, who is also Head of the school building plan's Steering Board, affirmed that the policy has helped promote equal access to education and reduce the gap among regions. However, he noted the cost has not been utilized efficiently by localities. Many provinces even wrongly used the allocated capital, pushing lots of school construction projects into sluggishness.

"Localities should pay more attention to the significance of the plan rather profits making from it," an official from the ministry said, revealing that tens of hundreds of children are still sitting in three-shifted and dilapidated classrooms.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung decided to allocate the remainder of the proceeds from bond issuance in 2005, worth VND112.71 billion ($7.04 million), to refurbish schools in three provinces, where schools have been hit hard by a host of natural disasters namely the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau, the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong and the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

Up to the 2005-2006 academic year, Vietnam had 2,300 secondary senior schools, 10,900 pre-schools, 14,700 primary schools, and 10,300 secondary junior schools. The country earmarks VND67 trillion ($4.2 billion) for education sector this year, a rise of more than 20% in comparison to 2006.

Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development

2007-09-09T02:21:00.000-07:00

13th ASEAN Summit People Singapore "Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development" is a key theme of discussions at the upcoming 13th ASEAN Summit and its related meetings in Singapore held in November 2007.

At the 40th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting held in July 2007 in Manila, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers also welcomed Singapore's proposal, as the Chair of ASEAN to focus on "Energy, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development as a key theme of discussions at the upcoming 13th ASEAN Summit and its related meetings in Singapore held in November 2007. In line with this theme, we look forward to the ASEAN Leaders' Declaration on Environmental Sustainability to be signed at the 13th ASEAN Summit and a proposal to work on a Singapore Declaration on the Environment to be issued at the 3rd East Asia Summit.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999.

The ASEAN region has a population of about 500 million, a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined gross domestic product of almost US$ 700 billion, and a total trade of about US$ 850 billion.

For further enquiries on media accreditation:

Email: media@13thAseanSummit.sg

The Strength of Many, the Heart of One

2007-09-09T02:18:00.000-07:00

The Vietnamese American NonGovernmental Organizations (VA NGO) Network is proud to announce the Third VA NGO Conference from September 28 - 30, 2007 in San Diego, California.

Since the first conference in 2004, the Network continues to attract more partners, groups and individuals who are working with the common mission to improve and save the lives of disadvantaged Vietnamese. The Conference actively seeks the participation of multiple generations of Vietnamese living both in Vietnam and elsewhere in the world. We invite you, our colleagues, who are organizations, groups, and individuals that fund, support or operate projects in Vietnam, to come share and learn at this conference.

At this conference, we will:

- report Network activities and achievements since Sonoma 2005 Conference
- enlist and partner with the next generation of humanitarian and development workers
- showcase members collaborative efforts and tools, and
- provide capacity building workshops on fundraising, financial efficiency, and program implementation.

The conference fee covers lodging and all meals. We encourage participants to attend the entire conference and remain on-site. VA NGO Network members will receive special discounts for registrations.

To become a member, please refer to the Membership link at http://www.va-ngo.org/

The Conference Planning Committee, consists of

- Catalyst Foundation http://www.catalystfoundation.org/
- Children of Peace International http://www.childrenofpeace.org/
- Kids Without Borders http://www.kidswithnoborders.org/
- Our 1 World http://www.our1world.org/
- Pacific Links Foundation http://www.pacificlinks.org/
- Vietnamese American Nurse Association

For more information about the VA NGO Conference, please contact us at
conference@va-ngo.org

Project gives disadvantaged children the opportunity to take the stage

2007-07-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Source: VietnamNews

Through the Children’s Voice project, underprivileged children in Ha Noi and HCMCity are seeing theatrical performances for the first time and even taking part in them. Vu Thu Huong gives them the spotlight.

When the Youth Theatre’s magician stepped into the classroom, a sea of wide-eyed children stared at him, mesmerised by the strange appearance of this figure in the long black cape.

The 156 street children living at the May 19 Orphanage had never seen a magician or any kind of theatrical performance before, and, if not for the Children’s Voice project, they probably never would have had the chance.

Aiming to call attention to the rights, wishes and needs of disadvantaged children throughout the country, the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) has joined forces with theatre troupes in Viet Nam, China and Laos to offer theatrical performances for disadvantaged children, starting in February.

In its first three months of operation, the programme has already given many underprivileged children nationwide a welcomed respite from the anxieties of their daily lives, according to Dang Thi Phuong Thuy, director of the May 19 Orphanage and chairwoman of Ba Dinh District’s Committee for Population, Family and Children.

"Almost all of the children living in my centre have been orphans since birth or since they were very young," she said. "Worse, some of them still live with their families but have fathers who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. They are forced to go home at the end of each day and give their earnings to their drunk fathers. So going to the theatre is beyond their wildest dreams."

The performance at the orphanage was courtesy of Ha Noi’s Youth Theatre, which already has carried out nine performances at schools for disadvantaged children in the capital. In HCM City, the Small-Stage Theatre 5B Vo Van Tan and the Drama Theatre have also been entertaining schoolchildren.

"The performances have all gone off with flying colours," said Truong Nhuan, vice director of the Youth Theatre.

Sixth-grader Nguyen Thi Nga agrees. After class, she usually sells goods like chewing gum to support herself, so the chance to spend the afternoon seeing beautiful actresses with her own eyes was "like a dream".

"Normally, the only place I can see them is on TV," Nga said.

The children aren’t the only ones benefiting from the shows: the performers say they have been deeply moved by the love and gratitude they have received from their young audience members.

"It’s so natural to love and sympathise with these poor kids," said Nguyen Thu Nga, an actress of the Youth Theatre. "Although performing in the theatre for normal schoolchildren and their parents is a lot of fun, I often find I’m more inspired when performing for disadvantaged kids. I hope to do more to provide unlucky kids with the opportunity to laugh like any other children."

According to Ngo Thi Phuong Dung, the programme officer of the Embassy of Sweden and supervisor of the project in Viet Nam, the theatres’ enthusiasm is especially impressive because they have yet to receive their funding from the Children’s Voice project, amounting to about VND2 billion (US$125,000) for each.

The Youth Theatre has been preparing a variety of dramatic performances, including singing, dancing and even pantomiming.

"The young audiences are very different; therefore, we divided our performers into teams so that we can tailor performances to the audience’s needs," Thu Nga said. "For instance, when we performed at the Xa Dan School for the Deaf, we had to change our show from singing to miming."

By doing so, the troupe can cater to a diversity of audiences, thus far including SOS Children’s Village, Xa Dan Secondary School, Hoa Sua Vocational School, Bo De Primary School and the May 19 Orphanage.

In the first year of the project, the Youth Theatre plans to stage about 100 free performances for disabled and street children. It will extend its targets to school-aged children living in rural and remote areas outside of Ha Noi in the second phase of the project.

According to Nguyen Van Ky, headmaster of Bo De Primary School in Long Bien District of Ha Noi, these children may be the ones who have the least opportunity to take part in theatre activities. In a thank-you letter to the Youth Theatre, he wrote that his students’ parents rarely paid any attention to providing their children with artistic education or extracurricular activities because they were all low-income farmers. He stated that it would take the school almost three years to save the money to take their students all the way to the Youth Theatre for a performance.

As the project develops, the groups plan to shift the focus of the performances to encourage children’s participation in theatre activities. In addition, new shows will emphasise educating children on issues like human rights, gender equality and environmental responsibilities.

Rather than just bringing an hour or two of entertainment to children, the project has loftier aims, like giving children the opportunity to learn life lessons and explore their own abilities.

Regional women work to combat human trafficking

2007-07-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Source: VNA

The trafficking of women and children within the Greater Mekong Sub-region was at the top of the agenda at a forum in Ha Noi on July 12-13.

Ha Thi Khiet, President of the Viet Nam Women’s Union and Chairwoman of the National Committee for the Advancement of Women, stressed at the forum that human trafficking has now moved beyond a national or a regional issue to one that holds global significance.

The trafficking of women and children is an action that violates basis human rights, shatters the family unit, affects social order and impedes the development of each country, she said.

Khiet said her organisation is continuously introducing new methods to educate the community in a bid to combat the crime.

At the Mekong Women’s Forum, participants from Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Viet Nam shared their experiences in preventing the trafficking of women and children, as well as in assisting victims who had been previously traded for sexual and labour exploitation to reintegrate into the community.

Sachiko Yamamoto, Regional Director for the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Asia and Pacific Office, said the work against human trafficking and discrimination cannot rest solely in the hands of governments, but all societies and citizens, particularly women and women’s organisations, should play a greater role.

During the forum, organised by the Viet Nam Women’s Union in coordination with the ILO, the participating countries are expected to put forth recommendations to boost cooperation between regional women’s organisations as well as between member countries to be implemented in the future.

ADB to assist Vietnam in improving quality, safety of agricultural products

2007-07-12T09:27:00.000-07:00

VietNamNet Bridge - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will assist the Government of Vietnam in improving the quality and safety of its agricultural products, according to an ADB press release today.

The project is estimated to cost US $950,000, with ADB providing a grant of $750,000 to cover most of that amount to be sourced from the Japan Special Fund. The balance will be covered in kind by the government of Vietnam.

Through the project, ADB will assist the government of Vietnam in coming up with an action plan that will improve the quality and safety standards of agricultural products, increase the number of viable small- and medium-scale enterprises in the sector and strengthen the capacity of concerned government agencies.

The project is expected to contribute to Vietnam’s sustainable agricultural growth by improving the competitiveness of farm products and enhancing linkages among producers, traders, product processors and consumers.

“As Vietnam’s agricultural sector becomes increasingly integrated with domestic and international markets, improvements in product quality and safety assume greater importance,” said Ahsan Tayyab, senior natural resources economist of ADB’s Southeast Asia Department. “Efforts need to be directed at agriculture research, extension, marketing, post-harvest operations, and product grading and certification.”

The agricultural sector in Vietnam experienced rapid growth during the last decade, averaging about 4% annually. Food security has improved at the national level and the country has turned from a net food importer into a major exporter of various agricultural products. However, key concerns remain, most notably meat hygiene and pesticide residue.

”Hands of Hope” helps poor children in Hung Yen

2007-07-10T05:14:00.000-07:00

Source: VNA

The Eye Hospital in the Red river delta province of Hung Yen conducted free surgery for 32 poor visually impaired children with assistance from Hands of Hope, an American non-governmental organisation (NGO).

It was the first drive of the organisation’s “For Children’s Eyes” programme.

Earlier, the hospital, in co-ordination with the province’s Committee for Population, Family and Children, provided free eye examination and medicines for more than 100 other children.

The second phase of the progamme, scheduled for late July, will help poor disabled children to integrate into the community. Those who are visually impaired will be provided with free periodic check-ups, health insurance cards and vocational training.

”Hands of Hope” began its work in Vietnam in late 2000 to assist children with difficulties, initially in central Da Nang city. So far, it has provided funding to project activities in more than 13 provinces and cities nationwide.

Donors commit continued support for poverty reduction programme

2007-07-10T05:13:00.000-07:00

Source: VNA

The National Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and eight donors on July 6 agreed on the partnership framework for the second phase of a development programme for ethnic minority and mountainous communes from 2006-2010.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed in Hanoi on July 6, the eight donors - the World Bank, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), Irish Aid, the UK Department for International Development, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Finland, the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) and the United Nations Development Programme – have committed to providing US $330 million in addition to technical assistance to the second phase of the programme. The Vietnamese Government will dole out the remaining VND 12.9 trillion (US $809.3 million).

The second phase of the initiative aims to slash the percentage of people living in poverty to below 30% in special disadvantaged regions by promoting the development of production activities and a shift to commercial production, building essential infrastructure facilities and improving the capability of grassroots and community officials in devising monitoring and assessment plans.

The programme is currently benefiting 1,644 communes nationwide.

Germany continues Tam Dao Park aid

2007-07-10T05:12:00.000-07:00

Source: Nhan Dan

The German Government will dole out a further EUR 2 million non-refundable aid package for the second phase of a scheme that looks to protect forests in Tam Dao National Park and it's surrounding buffer zones, reported the Vietnam News Agency from Vinh Phuc province.

An agreement underscoring the importance of the 3-year project was signed by officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Germany Technical Cooperation (GTZ) organisation in Hanoi, on July 2.

The second phase of the initiative that will run till 2009 will improve the management capacity of forest wardens and officials as well as the living conditions of local people in the buffer zones that straddle the three provinces of Vinh Phuc, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang.

The 2003-06 first phase was provided with an aid package of 1.8 million Euros and was carried out in 26 villages of the three provinces' eight districts that focused on sustainable development, poverty reduction and environmental protection.

Covering an area of 36,900 ha, the Tam Dao National Forest is one of the largest national forests in Vietnam and is home to an abundant and diverse ecosystem that includes 2,500 different species of flora and fauna.

Book: Search for Success in Rural Service Delivery

2007-07-10T05:11:00.000-07:00

The book "Search for Success in Rural Service Delivery" has developed by over 30 researchers from Australia, Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam when they joined a Refresher Course, conducted by lecturers from Larenstein (part of Wageningen University, the Netherlands) and Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (Vietnam).

Readers may find it an useful reference source with abundant statics and examples. Furthermore, they may be lured by the stories behind the rural development efforts.

It deals with a broad spectrum, from theories to practice of rural issues, such as tea cultivation and processing, stakeholders’ involvement in coffee growing extension, agro-forestry education in market-driven contexts and economic disciplines.

They brought to the course not only theories in service delivery, marketing and institutional capacity building but also vivid cases, profound analysis of contexts that influence the development of agriculture and rural sector. Additionally, after experience exchanged, lessons were learnt to contribute in poverty reduction, which is widespread in the region.

Among the book authors and editors, some well-recognized scholars are Adam Fforde (Melbourne University), Tu Quang Hien (Thai Nguyen University), Dick Kattenberg and Jan Van Huis (Larenstein), and others.

The National Political Publisher, Hanoi, Vietnam, June 2007
150 pages, 19 x 23 cm, paperback

For further inquiry, please contact:
VocTech Program
Suite 1207, Building 24T2, Hoang Dao Thuy Street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: 84 4 2513170
Fax: 84 4 2513171
Email: admin@voctech.edu.vn
www.voctech.edu.vn

Students volunteer to build Laos dormitory

2007-07-10T05:10:00.001-07:00

Source: VNA

A group of 30 students and lecturers from the Hanoi National Economics University embarked for Laos on July 2 in order to build a dormitory in Vientiane.

The project within the framework of “Volunteer Green Summer” programme is part of a series of activities being held to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Laos (Sept. 5) and is being funded by the university, where more than 100 Lao graduates and post-graduates are studying.

During this year’s programme, over 300 voluntary students from the university will also join other initiatives to aid the disadvantaged provinces of Ha Nam, Ha Tinh, Hung Yen, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Vinh Phuc.

The volunteers will organise training courses on information technology and raise public awareness of social issues such as drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.

Resource: Reduction in childhood malnutrition in Vietnam from 1990 to 2004

2007-07-10T05:09:00.000-07:00

A new study, "Reduction in childhood malnutrition in Vietnam from 1990 to 2004," is now available. According to a study from Hanoi, Vietnam, "Reduction in childhood malnutrition in Vietnam between 1990 and 2004 was assessed using data from 5 national surveys.

The prevalence of alnutrition, including stunting, declined significantly for underweight rom 45% in 1990 to 26.6% in 2004."

"While the average reduction was 1.3% per year in the period from 1990 to 000, it was 1.8% per year in the period from 2000 to 2004. The prevalence for stunting declined from 56.5% in 1990 to 30.7% in 2004, with an average reduction of 2% per year in the period from 1990 to 2000 and 1.5% per year in the period from 2000 to 2004. There were clear differences in the decrease in malnutrition prevalence between urban, rural and mountainous areas, the reduction being highest in the urban regions and lowest in the mountainous areas. Regression analysis showed that the nutrition status of the child is positively related to better household living conditions and to the educational level of the father, but not the mother. Stunting is higher in children whose parents are farmers and higher in households with more children. Stunting prevalence is lower in households with safe water access and hygienic toilets. In future , the dramatic reduction is childhood malnutrition as seen in the period 1990 to 2004 might not continue," wrote N.C. Khan and colleagues, National Institute of Nutrition.

The researchers concluded: "More comprehensive apptoaches will be needed to lower childhood malnutrition in Vietnam further." Khan and colleagues published the results of their research in Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition(Reduction in childhood malnutrition in Vietnam from 1990 to 2004. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2007;16(2):274-8).

For additional information, contact N.C. Khan, National Institute of Nutrition, 48B Tang Bat Ho, Hanoi, Vietnam.

The publisher of the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutritioncan be contacted at: H E C Press, Healthy Eating Club Pty Ltd., Emerald Hill Clinic 157 Clarendon St., Southbank, Vic 3006, Australia.

US NGO raises money to build houses in Quang Tri

2007-07-10T05:07:00.000-07:00

Source: VNA

The US non-governmental organisation “PeaceTrees Vietnam” have joined the Vietnamese Embassy in the US to raise money to build 100 houses in central Quang Tri province.

Speaking at the function held in Washington D.C. on June 28, Deputy Head of Mission of the Vietnamese Embassy in the US Nguyen Minh Tien singled out “PeaceTrees Vietnam” for its projects relating to landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, UXO victims assistance and mine awareness education in Quang Tri.

“We welcome and highly appreciate the efforts of PeaceTrees Vietnam and other humanitarian organisations to heal the wounds left by the war and promote friendship between the people of the two countries,” said the Vietnamese diplomat.

“PeaceTrees Vietnam” was founded in 1995 under the initiative of the Governor of Washington D.C., first Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Le Van Bang and President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisation Vu Xuan Hong.

Over the past 10 years, the organisation has helped local people in Quang Tri province clear landmines and other explosives on 375 ha of land, remove 13,000 ordnance items and plant 32,500 trees.

It has provided mine awareness education for 13,000 local people, mainly children, built a number of houses, seven libraries and three kindergartens and provided assistance to more than 600 UXO victims throughout the locality.

Vietnam's international integration goes online

2007-07-10T05:04:00.000-07:00

Source: Nhan Dan

Students in the capital city of Hanoi and southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City on June 26 went online to discuss environmental issues with Japanese and Australian peers, reported the Vietnam News Agency from Ho Chi Minh City.

The e-conference was only the start of a series of activities to be launched by development learning centres in the two cities, which were members of the Global Development Learning Network. The network, an initiative of the World Bank to facilitate online dialogue, discussion and study, has so far connected more than 110 centres of its kind in 80 countries worldwide.

At present, there are only two development learning centres in Vietnam, one in Hanoi and the other in Ho Chi Minh City.

The World Bank was the main sponsor of the two centres. The other supporters included the governments of Australia, Canada and Denmark, according to Laurent Msellati, WB's acting country director in Vietnam.

"These centres reflect our commitment to fostering knowledge sharing and development, by facilitating exchanges between Vietnamese policy makers, academics and experts and their international counterparts," said Msellati.

Freshly inaugurated on June 26, the Ho Chi Minh City Development Learning Centre will offer Internet-based education initiatives and host seminars and global policy dialogues that cover a wide range of development topics, in partnership with local Vietnamese institutions, said Vo Cong Anh, manager of the centre.

It will also make use of its links with the network and the World Bank's support to help local businesses reach out to new markets.

US Foundation Funds Hospital Expansion

2007-07-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

United States non-governmental organisation, East-Meets-West, has decided to grant 3.5 million USD to Da Nang hospital in order to open up two new departments.

The aid package, to be used to establish the Cancer and Tumours Department and the Tropical Medicine Department, was approved by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem, on June 27, who ordered Da Nang's municipal administration to oversee the smooth implementation of the programme. This deal is one of ten aid projects that the East-Meet-West Foundation has committed to Da Nang city for the 2006 fiscal year. The majority of the foundation's schemes revolve around child health, education and the disadvantaged.

Japan Helps to Improve Healthcare in Remote Areas

2007-07-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

Japan has committed to dole out more than 151,600 USD to improve healthcare services in Mekong Delta An Giang and Ca Mau provinces.

An agreement to this effect was clinched between Ikuo Mizuki, Japanese Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City and representatives from the two provinces on June 21. Under the agreement, Japan will provide 15 kinds of medical equipment, worth more than 85,000 USD, to the Nam Can hospital in southernmost Ca Mau province, including electrocardiograp-3 channels, anesthesia machine with ventilator, ophthalmology instrument sets, and semi-automatic bio-chemistry analyser. The aid will be beneficial to almost 73,000 local people. The second aid package will be devoted to the upgrading of a clinic in Tan Chau district, An Giang province, in a move to better health care services for more than 54,000 local residents. In 2006, the Japanese government donated more than 2.4 million USD to 28 sub-projects in Viet Nam through its non-refundable aid programme. The Japanese Consul General plans to adopt more projects under this programme for the needy in disadvantaged areas like the Mekong Delta and the Central Highlands.

2030 club ready for second charity-business caravan tour

2007-05-25T07:50:00.001-07:00

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

2007-05-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-21T01:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T00:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T00:12:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

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:

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

2007-05-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

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

Million USD charity fundraiser

2007-04-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

VietNamNet Bridge - In 16 years of doing charity in Vietnam, the Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH), founded by a Vietnamese American, Mr Tran Van Ca, has given over 100,000 artificial limbs and wheelchairs to disabled Vietnamese.

In 2003 alone, Mr Ca raised US$1.7 million to buy artificial limbs and wheelchairs for the disabled, but he always refused to talk about himself, reasoning, “What I have done is just a grain of sand in the ocean.”

Do much, talk little is the character of Mr Tran Van Ca. Though operating for quite a long period of time in Vietnam, not many people know about the quiet job of Mr Ca and his non-governmental charity organisation, VNAH.

Mr Ca travels very often between Vietnam and the US and each time he returns to Vietnam he bring ‘gifts’ to Vietnamese disabled: artificial limbs, wheelchairs or doctors who come to provide free health check-ups for the poor and the disabled.

Most recently, in March 2007, Mr Ca brought a group of volunteer Vietnamese American doctors to Vietnam to examine poor patients and disabled people in some southern provinces of Vietnam. In April 2007 he returned to Vietnam again and came to Thai Binh to present artificial limbs to the disabled there.

So far, the operations of VNAH have reached remote and mountainous areas of Vietnam, from the northern mountainous provinces of Thai Nguyen and Cao Bang to Mekong Delta provinces.

“Our programme is small in scale but it is practical and highly appreciated by the Vietnamese government,” Mr Ca said.

The return
In 2003, the Washington Post had an article praising Tran Van Ca as a benefactor.

Some 30 years after coming to the US, Tran Van Ca is now the owner of a luxurious restaurant on 5ha of land in Great Falls.

After a return trip to Vietnam and a meeting with a war invalid who had lost two legs, he was awakened to the belief that it is too selfish to only help one’s family.

Giving up a business that was developing, he founded the Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped in Virginia in 1991 with $10,000, which was used to by wheelchairs for the disabled in Vietnam. So far, Mr Ca’s organisation has built two artificial limb producing enterprises in Vietnam.

Reader’s Digest reported that Tran Van Ca left five fast food restaurants named Taco Amigo and a villa with 8 bedrooms worth millions of US dollars to return to Vietnam to do charity.

So far, VNAH has received $5.6 million in funds from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement projects supporting the disabled in Vietnam.

In November 2006, the US Congress approved $400,000 for VNAH to build a health rehabilitation centre in the central city of Da Nang.

“Output” for the disabled
Mr Ca says that it is a big waste to only provide vocational training for the disabled without creating ‘output’ for them. Thus, VNAH is carrying out a vocational training - job creation model on a trial basis in Dong Anh District, Hanoi and Da Lat city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

Under this programme, VNAH staff has to approach companies to ask their assistance in training and recruiting the disabled. In Da Lat, the pilot programme of VNAH has received warm support from a private company named Gia Hung. This company has helped train the disabled and promised to recruit those people after vocational training.

“Over 90% of the participants in this project have gotten stable jobs,” Mr Ca said.

In the past 16 years, VNAH has performed free orthopedic surgeries on thousands of disabled children, helped over 2,000 poor and disabled people to learn vocations and get jobs, helped over 6,000 poor children, street children and orphans to return home, study and get jobs, built 35 schools in rural and mountainous areas, and organised many free health check-up trips and many HIV/AIDS education and prevention projects.

VNAH was the first overseas Vietnamese non-governmental organisation licenced to open a representative office in Hanoi.

Talking green draws the crowds

2007-04-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

VietNamNet Bridge - The regular get-togethers of the Talking Green club at the headquarters of the Hanoi-based World Conservation Union (IUCN) are always packed.

Today they are talking about environmental police, a newly established force in Vietnam, and their role.

Most of Talking Green’s members are lecturers and students in Hanoi who study the environment. They meet every week to talk about the greenhouse effect, acid rain, biological diversity, Hanoi’s lakes and other such issues, always in English.

Every month, they invite environmental experts from local universities, the IUCN and international organizations to speak at the club.

“The club is not only for learning English but also raising public concern for the environment. We have worked with several organizations to carry out voluntary projects in this field,” Talking Green’s vice president told us.

Their first endeavor was an IUCN wetland project in the northern provinces of Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh and Hai Phong. Club members went to the wetlands to talk with the local inhabitants about the value and importance of wetlands and how to exploit them in a sustainable way.

Talking Green is implementing the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s 3R (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) project in Vietnam, and will work with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and similar organizations.

“Our English has greatly improved since we started going to the club, and we have also had the opportunity to take part in voluntary projects,” exclaimed two Chinese students from the Vietnamese Faculty of the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

Nowadays the club is attracting students from other majors, and even high school kids are starting to turn up.

Talking Green’s president, Nguyen Thanh Tung, says the club’s ambition is to establish a non-governmental environmental organization in Vietnam.

Swedish development agency to stage plays for needy children

2007-04-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

Source: ThanhNien News

With a fund from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Vietnamese poor children will get the chance to enjoy a multitude of stage events set for 2007-2009.

Under the program ‘Children’s Voice’, SIDA will provide the three playhouses – Hanoi-based Tuoi Tre, Ho Chi Minh City Playhouse and HCMC-based 5B stage, each VND700 million (US$43,722) annually to create and arrange plays for the little ones.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Playhouse Tran Khanh Hoang said his playhouse would provide funds of VND120 million ($7,495) for equipment and actor training.

Hoang said, in 2007, there would be 100 plays for kids staged within the city’s 24 districts.

He added the coming plays would focus on sexual equality among other social themes geared towards children.

A US$280,000 educational project funded by Japan's Nippon Foundation

2007-04-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

The Foundation has helped train teachers for the hearing-impaired in the southern province of Dong Nai.

Three elements of the project included teaching hearing-impaired high school students, teaching analytical skills using sign language, and selecting certain students to become teachers for other hearing-impaired students.

The project, to promote sign language teaching and interpretation, kicked off in May 2000 and will continue to 2012 at Dong Nam Teachers Training College.

According to the dean of the college, Nguyen Gia Bao, after six years in effect, the project has achieved promising results with 25 of 68 enrolled students earning their high school diplomas through exams alongside non-disabled students.

"The project has a positive social effect by providing a professionally-trained teaching staff for hearing-impaired children," Bao said. "We hope it will expand to universities across the country." There was a shift in the initial focus of the project, according to project director James Clyde Woodward, because few deaf children in Viet Nam had previously passed on to high school. Now, he said, "we must select high school students to participate in the project." The 68 hearing-impeared students in the project were drawn from around the country and became full-time students of the project following sign language interviews. Free of charge, they are given accommodation and taught the high school curriculum, while also receiving additional training in analytical expression and symbolic language using sign language. Among the students who have passed through the programme are Nguyen Tran Thuy Tien, now a freshman student at Lac Hong University, and Nguyen Hoang Lam, currently studying in the 11th grade with honours. This term, Woodward and his assistant, Tran Thi Hoa, have instructed certain excellent students to compile a Vietnamese-English-sign language dictionary and study guide.

Besides studying, students also have an opportunity to access educational, job orientation and recreational programmes to improve their ability to integrate into society while accumulating signing experience. The project has sought additional support, as well as employment opportunities for hearing-impaired graduates, from organistions and individuals. In the first term of the 2006-2007 school year, Lac Hong University and Dong Nai Province's Study Promotion Association presented 10 computers valued at VND80 million to the project. "I will make an effort to set up a fantastic project with the co-operation and assistance of enthusiatic international friends and teaching staff from local high schools participating in the project," Woodward said.

Vietnam Joins International Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities

2007-04-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

Vietnam has more than 5.3 million people with disabilities, accounting for 6.4 percent of its total population. Of this total, about 69 percent are of working age. Disabled people have the rights to healthcare services, education, and cultural and vocational training activities which will aid them in seeking employment, receiving equal treatment and fully integrating into the community.

The United Nations General Assembly, on December 13, 2006, adopted the International Convention on the rights of people with disabilities. The convention is the first global document in human history, affirming the rights of disabled people. It asserts that disabled people are recognized as having full rights and human dignity, like other members of our communities and should enjoy equal treatment and opportunities in society. In addition, on March 20, 2007, in New York, as many as 81 UN-member countries signed up to the convention.

At present, Vietnam has more than 5.3 million people with disabilities, accounting for 6.4 percent of its total population. It’s worth noting that about 69 percent of disabled people are of working age. Disabled people need suitable and comprehensive healthcare services, education, and cultural and vocational training activities in order to aid them in seeking employment, receiving equal treatment and fully integrating into the community.

Currently, Vietnam has adopted policies on disabled people with regulated documents showing due attention of the Party and State to disabled people, such as the ordinance on disabled people, issued in 1998, the Labour Code, the Law on Education, the Law on Information Technology and the Law on Vocational Training, which all have special articles mentioning disabled people. As planned, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will develop the Law on disabled people to submit to the National Assembly for approval in 2008.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Vietnam’s efforts in supporting the disabled have been in the international spotlight. The country has formulated a project to help the disabled in the 2006-2010 period, which was approved by the Prime Minister by decision No 239/2006/QD-TTg, dated October 24, 2006. The National Coordinating Council on Disabilities (NCCD) including 17 ministries and agencies and various organizations for the disabled has so far operated effectively, contributing to raising people’s awareness. Vietnam is implementing its commitments to the Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (2003-2012).

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of Public Security to conduct research and give opinions on Vietnam’s participation in the International Convention on the rights of people with disabilities. Relevant ministries agreed that the content of the convention is in accordance with the Party and State’s policies and reflects Vietnam’s committements to ensuring all human rights and essential needs to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities.

Director of NCCD, Nghiem Xuan Tue said, once Vietnam signs the convention, it proves that the Government of Vietnam respects the rights of disabled people.

Foreign NGOs Operate Effectively in Vietnam

2007-04-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

Foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have made a growing presence in Viet Nam with increases in number and the value of their aid over recent years, said an official of the People's Aid Coordination Committee (PACCOM).

PACCOM Deputy Head Don Tuan Phong told a Vietnam News Agency reporter that the committee has so far granted 574 licences for foreign NGOs in the country to open representative offices, project offices and operate .

The two latest licences were given in mid-March to the US-based Orbis International specialising in eye treatment and the Viet Nam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF).
Viet Nam has established relationship with around 650 foreign NGOs, more than 500 of which are conducting regular activities in the country with long-term commitments, said PACCOM. In 2006, these NGOs funded and helped carry out 2,700 aid projects in the country with a disbursement value of more than 216 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 20 percent. Their aid focused on the medical sector, education, the settlement of social issues and economic development in war-devastated regions as well as in rural, remote and mountainous areas inhabited by ethnic people.

Phong said the humanitarian development aid has contributed to not only building the friendship between the Vietnamese people and other nations worldwide but also eliminating hunger, reducing poverty and improving living conditions of people in beneficiary areas.

The Prime Minister has issued a national programme on mobilising foreign NGOs' aid in the 2006-2010 period. The programme is aimed at effectively utilising this resource in accordance with the country's plan for socio-economic development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction as well as with each sector and locality's development priority.

WB, ADB increase aid to Mekong sub-region

2007-04-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

The World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have pledged to provide additional funding to help develop the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) at a seminar in Hanoi Friday.

Addressing the seminar on GMS economic cooperation strategy, WB Country Director Ian Porter said his bank will focus its investment on such fields as water resource management, electricity trade, transport and human resources development.

The WB is also likely to assist GMS in the areas of environment, forestry, healthcare and risk management, he added.

Ayumi Konishi, ADB Country Director, also pledged loans and personnel support to GMS and continued that his bank will coordinate with the WB to reduce risks that may arise during the project implementation process.

Noteworthy in the GMS economic cooperation strategy is a regional electricity market project, which is aimed at increasing electricity trading between GMS members.

This year, the WB is expected to extend support to a project to build electric grids between Cambodia and Vietnam as well as between Cambodia and Laos. It also plans to map out a feasibility study for a project on a high-voltage electric grid connecting Vietnam with southern China.

The GMS includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and two Chinese provinces - Guangxi and Yunnan.

Initiating and heeding public opinion – a reciprocal tie

2007-04-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Several cases in recent years have shown that listening to public criticisms against infrastructure projects allows leaders to improve upon and deliver timely and effective decisions that affect the lives of many.

Reviewing its activities between 2003 and 2006, the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Scientific and Technological Associations said that it had taken part in offering counterarguments and assessing 79 projects in the city.

Contribution to only 79 projects is a modest number compared to the thousands of projects in HCMC over the past four years; however, counterarguments have helped create considerable positive social effects.

Regarding this, Hoang Anh Tuan, vice chairman of the HCMC Union of Scientific and Technological Associations quoted the project to move the Saigon Port as an example.

He said the Ministry of Construction and Transport, authorized by the Government to map out the project, originally intended to move the port along the Saigon River to Cai Mep in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

Thus relocating the project to the new site would mean the port will no longer bear its renowned trademark – Saigon Port.

Scientists spoke out in opposition to the designed project and supplied a solid foundation and reliable data proving that if relocating the Saigon Port in Cai Mep the city would incur losses in revenue of some VND28 trillion (US$1.74 billion) a year.

Meanwhile, they suggested if moving the port to Cat Lai and Hiep Phuoc in HCMC’s outskirts the port would still have a chance to maintain its trademark and incur losses of only VND2 trillion ($124.1 million).

After verifying the scientists’ counterargument, the government finally decided to choose Cat Lai-Hiep Phuoc as the venue for the Saigon Port relocation.

Phan Khanh, Secretary General of the HCMC Irrigation Scientific and Technological Association quoted another example.

He said when submitting the Son La hydropower plant project at the National Assembly’s session in 1998 for consideration, the project owner proposed to build the dike with a height of 265 meters.

However, following strong counterarguments from the Vietnam Irrigation Association and the Vietnam Union of Scientific and Technological Associations the National Assembly in 2002 approved the construction of the Son La dike at lower height, 215 meters.

This decision helped reduce the risk of a “permanent danger”, Khanh said, explaining that with the proposed height of 265 meters the Son La reservoir would contain 24 billion cubic meters of water, triple than the Hoa Binh reservoir of the power plant of the same name.

Both hydropower plants share the same river system with the Son La reservoir upstream and Hoa Binh downstream, so if the Son La dike was breached, it would be disastrous for the lower river section area and even the whole the Red River delta as well, Khanh explained.

Also thanks to public counterarguments many “antiscientific” projects were cancelled like the one to replace the water of the West Lake in Hanoi or split the Truong Son mountain range to help reduce flooding in the Mekong Delta, Khanh added.

Listening a must
It is easy to see how counterarguments, particularly those by scientists with a firm foundation in fact have contributed greatly to creating not only economic efficiency but also positive social effects.

This can only be achieved if opinions are heeded by authorized agencies.

But it is still the case that most counterarguments are ignored, though logical and reasonable.

In a recent working with the Presidium of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, Prime Minster Nguyen Tan Dung stressed the VFF should raise its role in heeding and rationalizing public input.

Early in 2002, the Vietnamese Government issued Decision 22/2002 to institutionalize consulting, arguing and assessing activities of the Vietnam Union of Scientific and Technological Associations and its affiliated units.

However, many scientists said that “legalizing social counterarguments and assessment” was necessary.

The law should stipulate which projects need to be reconsidered through direct counterargument from public opinions or through the mass media.

Specifically, regulating the responsibilities of the persons who directly sign investment projects is a must.

Such key measures will help increase ‘listening’ of public ideas by concerned agencies, to enable right and timely readjustment.

Source: ThanhNien News

Agriculture Vietnam to Contribute $500,000 to International Agro Development Fund

2007-04-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese Prime Minister just approved $500,000 from the State budget for contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the 2007-2009 period.

The PM asked the Finance Ministry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant bodies to evaluate implementation of projects financed by IFAD during the past, and suggest solutions increasing project effectiveness. IFAD leaders expressed the desire that Vietnam would be an important partner in Southeast Asia, at the FAO Committee on Forestry's (COFO) 18th meeting which concluded in Rome Mar 16. At the meeting, IFAD decided to pour $38.7 million into a project to help Vietnam reduce poverty. Of the sum, around $24.73 million is loans and $630,000 is non-refundable aid. The agreement raised total projects supported by IFAD in Vietnam to 6, worth $105 million.

Australian Journalist Supports the Poor

2007-04-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

An Australian journalist has donated nearly VND 175 million (nearly $11,000) to help the local poor in A Luoi district, central Thua Thien-Hue province, implement a cattle raising project.
The aid was granted by Bruce Montgomery to 50 underprivileged households in Hong Kim and Hong Quang communes, according to the provincial People's Committee. It is not the fist charitable act performed by the journalist, who is a co-founder of the Australia-based Viet Nam Association of Victims of Agent Orange, whose aim is to support Agent Orange victims in Hue city. Between 2003-04, he, in collaboration with the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia and the provincial Red Cross Association, presented 30 wheelchairs for the disabled in A Luoi.

Bill Gates does charity in Vietnam

2007-04-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Chairman and his wife visited a health station in the outskirt of Hanoi Monday morning. That’s the health station of Trung Mau Commune, Gia Lam District, where receives aid from the Bill & Melinda Gates fund for vaccinations.

Vu Thi Oanh, chief of the Trung Mau commune health station, said that April 2 was the day for vaccination of seven types of vaccines for children from 0-12 months.

During two hours (8-10am) in Trung Mau commune, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Vietnamese health officials inspected the vaccination, management task and working procedures of the health station.

Bill Gates and his wife directly witnessed the operations of doctors and nurses and the vaccine maintenance equipment at the health station.

They also came to some local families to ask about the extended vaccination programme in the commune and to see how is the health of local women and children.

At 6.15pm of April 2, Bill Gates met with officials of the Ministries of Health, Finance and Planning and Investment at the Hilton Hotel to talk about funding for Vietnam.

At a party held by Bill Gates and his wife, Deputy Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan proposed Bill & Melinda Fund to provide vaccines for the extended vaccination programme of Vietnam as well as support the HIV/AIDS control programme in the country.

In a talk with reporters, Mr Huan said that Bill Gates highly appreciated the expanded vaccination programme of Vietnam.

Today, April 3, Bill Gates and his wife will meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and worked with the Central Hygiene and Epidemic Prevention Institute on vaccination programmed funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Fund. They signed a project worth $245,000 to vaccinate HPV to prevent cervical cancer for around 800 girls from 11-13 years old.

HPV is the only cancer prevention vaccine used in 59 countries. This kind of vaccine may be officially sold in Vietnam this year’s end. However, it is difficult to spread the use of this vaccine since its price is high, around $100/injection while each woman needs up to three shots.

Source: VietNamNet

Netherlands Helps Improve Capacity for Vietnamese Medical Workers

2007-03-31T04:22:00.002-07:00

The 14 million Euro programme, which will continue until 2010, aims to improve the health of the Vietnamese people through strengthening the capacity of medical workers as well as training institutions nationwide.

A five-year programme to improve the capacity of Vietnamese medical workers with the aid from the Netherlands Government was kicked off by the Health Ministry of Viet Nam and the Netherlands Embassy in Ha Noi on March 17. It targets eight medical universities, the School of Public Health and 12 medical colleges and secondary medical schools. The programme will also help strengthen the role of the Department of Science and Training of the Health Ministry in planning and monitoring all programmes relating to training of medical workers.

Russia Grants Additional Scholarships for Vietnamese Students

2007-03-31T04:22:00.001-07:00

The new programme covers a large range of studies in Russia, including for under-graduate and post graduate study, including military training, and Russian language courses for both students and teachers.

The Russian Government has decided to grant 285 more scholarships to Vietnamese students for the 2007-08 academic year, said the Ministry of Education and Training. This number is in addition to the current 75 annual scholarships agreed upon in an act of cooperation made between the two countries.

US Media Urges Government to Help Viet Nam Deal with Dioxin

2007-03-31T04:21:00.000-07:00

The Time, a prestigious US magazine, in its Mar. 12 edition carried an article, written by Walter Isaacson, Director of the Aspen Institute, urging the US Government to help Viet Nam detoxify Agent Orange (AO)/Dioxin-contaminated areas. The US should immediately assist Viet Nam to detoxify the areas contaminated by the defoliant sprayed by the US military during the US-led war in the country because the US caused the contamination, the article said, stressing that health issues resulting from the contamination should be dealt with as a humanitarian issue rather than a compensational issue. The magazine suggested that rehabilitation centres, clinics and health consultancy centres be established from Viet Nams northern province of Thai Binh to its central province of Quang Ngai to provide medical treatment and check-ups services for AO-affected children.

In a responsible and moral spirit, the US Governments aid programmes and private humanitarian organisations should resolve the last vestiges of the Viet Nam war, the magazine said.

During last Novembers visit to Viet Nam by US President George W. Bush, a
joint statement issued at the end of a meeting between the two countries leaders cautiously referred to the need to resolve the environmental pollution problem around the AO-contaminated areas and the need of humanitarian aid for the Vietnamese disabled people, the magazine noted. If the US Congress and Defence Department choose to get with this programme, they could go a long way toward resolving this crucial issue by the time Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet visits Washington in June, the article stressed, adding that only then, would the US be able to close the last chapter of the Viet Nam war.

Korea Agent Orange-Affected Veterans Open Office in Hanoi

2007-03-31T04:19:00.000-07:00

The Agent Orange-Connected Disabled Veterans of Vietnam War of Korea opened an office in Hanoi Saturday.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Seo Cheol Jae, head of the Vietnamese chapter of the association, said the establishment of the office aimed to promote cooperation between and assistance for dioxin victims in the two countries.

He also pledged active support for Vietnamese victims, especially in their lawsuit against US chemical companies. With the war over and Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) developing friendly relations, RoK war veterans and millions of Vietnamese people, both of them AO victims, were cross-border companions sharing the pain. The RoK had won the struggle for justice with lawsuits against US chemical companies and its veterans would actively help Vietnamese victims with their lawsuit. Dang Xuan Dien, vice president of the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin (VAVA), said assistance from RoK veterans would enable the Vietnamese lawsuit to get support from all progressive people. The Korean organization has been organizing many activities to support Vietnamese dioxin victims since the establishment of VAVA in 2004. VAVA now has more than 350 members, mainly living in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Developing New Legislation to Govern Vietnamese NGOs

2007-03-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

By Karla W. Simon*

At present, there are few NGOs in Viet Nam, in part because the legal and policy framework for their existence is dated and extremely limited. With few exceptions, at all levels of government from the central down to the district, village and commune, only government entities are available to respond to social and economic needs. These include both most ministries and mass organizations such as the Fatherland Front, Youth Union, Woman’s Union, and Veterans Union. These have millions of members and meets a broad range of social and economic needs. The mass organizations are state-managed, staffed and controlled.

The basic legal regime for Vietnamese NGOs (VNGOs) can be found in several laws and regulations. Initially, associations were authorized under the 1957 Law on the Right to Establish Associations. The 1992 Constitution provides for VNGOs by guaranteeing citizens rights to become involved in organizations that benefit society and recognizes international organizations. The Civil Code of Vietnam, adopted in 1996, provides a more detailed system for dealing with domestic VNGOs. Under the Civil Code, a domestic NGO can be legally formed in Vietnam if:

“It is authorized by a competent State authority; has an organizational structure; independently owns and is liable for property; and, independently enters into legal relations in its own name”.

The Civil Code recognizes the following types of not-for-profit legal persons: social and socio-professional organizations, social and charitable funds and other organizations, as provided by law. Requirements for the contents of a VNGO charter are also found in the Civil Code. Given its explicit language, the Civil Code of Vietnam seems to be the leading authority for the right to establish VNGOs and may have superseded the previous law on associations.

Operating under this legal and policy framework there are about 30 officially recognized NGOs that are affiliated with either a government ministry or mass organization. They seem to operate with some degree of autonomy from the government and have been formally sanctioned by the Government. Most are centered around Hanoi. Examples include the Highland Education Development Organization (HEDO), Toward Ethnic Women (TEW), Education For Nature (ENV) and Vietnam Save Association for Disabled Children.

There are three types of such organizations:

Those that have their origin in mass organizations or other state bodies;
Groups of researchers that are university or hospital based; and
Small organizations that work through private operations to meet local needs. TEW, noted above, is one such organization. It has a handful of employees and operates a not for profit handicraft store in Hanoi. It helps to promote village-level, ecologically sound farming projects. The TEW director is a government employee.

It should be noted that for the past few years an inter-ministerial committee in Viet Nam has been drafting a new NGO law. They have produced a number drafts. It appears that the work of this committee has been frustrated by political opposition to the enactment of an NGO law. However, it now appears that Viet Nam is fully committed to enact such legislation and in fact has committed itself to do so in the context of joining the World Trade Organization.

In October 2001, the Government of Viet Nam formally requested the assistance of Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH) and the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) in organizing a two and a half day workshop to examine the current status of NGO law in Viet Nam, in other nations and other related issues. The workshop took place in December in Hanoi and served to help identify next steps needed to enact legislation favorable to the development of strong and effective NGOs in Viet Nam. Participants included two international experts from ICNL – Dr. Leon Irish and Prof. Karla Simon, ICNL’s co-founders, local representatives from INGOs and those in the Government of Viet Nam with responsibility for and interest in the development of a local NGO movement. Funding for the Workshop was provided by USAID.

The Workshop attendees demonstrated a keen interest in the subject and seem to be genuinely committed to helping to put into place a new Vietnamese NGO law. Topics discussed included identifying a series of next steps and the timetable needed to enact a national NGO law. The discussion also mentioned likely roadblocks to enactment and means to address these hurdles.

*Karla W. Simon is Co-Founder (with Leon Irish) of ICNL and General Editor of the International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law (IJNL). She is Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for International Social Development at the Catholic University of America and can be reached at simon@law.edu.

City charity donates fixes for faulty hearts

2007-03-06T01:15:00.001-08:00

A charity programme to provide free heart surgery to low-income patients from seven southern and Central Highlands provinces was launched last month by the HCM City Association of Sponsors for Poor Patients and the Medical-Pharmacy University Hospital.

The programme aims to help about 1,000 young patients 7-17 years old from the provinces of Gia Lai, Tay Ninh, Hau Giang, An Giang, Binh Phuoc, Ca Mau and Tra Vinh.

Hospital deputy director Nguyen Hoang Bac said many of these patients, from poor families which cannot afford to pay for surgeries, would die if not operated upon in a timely manner. The association will work through eight hospitals in HCM City during 2007-08.

Viet kieu named to head foundation

2007-03-06T01:13:00.000-08:00

VietnamNews — Dr Vo Van Toi, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Tufts University, has been appointed excutive director of the Viet Nam Education Foundation (VEF).

At Tufts University Toi created the biomedical engineering programme and helped establish the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Earlier he served as a post-doctoral fellow at the Biomedical Engineering Centre in the Division of Health Sciences and Technology – a combined programme of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also helped create and was vice-director of the Eye Research Institute in Sion, Switzerland.

Toi has dedicated his expertise to helping Viet Nam by co-founding the Vietnamese North American University Professor network.

He also created the Biomedical Engineering Consortium of Viet Nam-International Universities and the Vietnamese Association of Biomedical Engineering, and initiated a virtual Biomedical Engineering Department of Viet Nam within Tufts’ Biomedical Engineering Department.

"Toi is an outstanding professor in biomedical engineering and is dedicated to the development of science and technology as well as higher education in Viet Nam," said chairman of VEF’s Board of Directors, Malcolm Gillis.

"With an excellent understanding of both American and Vietnamese cultures and their respective languages, he is an exceptionally able leader of VEF to advance its mission of building Viet Nam’s capacity in science and technology through educational exchange, and thus strengthening the relationship between the US and Viet Nam."

VEF is a special initiative by the US Congress to bring the US and Viet Nam closer through educational exchanges related to science and technology.

The Foundation is in its fourth year of operations and incorporates assistance from the US National Academies in developing and executing VEF programmes.

As its flagship activity, the VEF Fellowship programme has placed nearly 200 fellows at more than 50 top US graduate institutions, mostly for doctoral degrees.

VEF fellows are required to return to Viet Nam after completing their academic programmes in the US.

VEF is governed by the board of directors whose 13 members include three US cabinet members – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, and Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson. Toi, who was serving on the board as a presidential appointee since 2004, said: "I will dedicate my efforts to furthering the already proven success of VEF and will work closely with the scientific, educational, and government communities of both the US and Viet Nam to achieve our mutual goals."

Tourism for poverty alleviation

2007-03-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

VietnamNews - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie’s Asia-Pacific Region approved resolutions on developing the tourism industry for poverty elimination and environmental protection for sustainable development at a three-day session that closed in Siem Riep Province, Cambodia, on Wednesday.

The Vietnamese delegation, led by Nguyen Ngoc Tran, vice chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations and president of the APF Viet Nam, presented the country’s point of view regarding strengthening tourism development and environmental protection in collaboration with other regional countries.

The delegation also mentioned specific resolutions to improve living standards and sustainable development.

The meeting also drew the participation of representatives of APF sub-committees from Cambodia, Laos and Vanuatu. Representatives from European and American regions, France and the APF General Secretariat also attended the meeting.

PM OK’s fund to support fisheries

2007-03-06T01:09:00.000-08:00

VietnamNews -Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a new fund to aggressively promote the preservation and continued sustainable development of the fisheries sector.

The fund entitled, Viet Nam Fund for Aquatic Resources Reproduction (VIFARR), will receive financial resources from the State to disburse to programmes related to the preservation and reproduction of aquatic resources.

As a State financial fund under the direct management of Ministry of Fisheries, it will operate in accordance with the standards and requirements defined by the Ministry of Finance.

The Fund will also provide financial support for organisations or individuals to shift from coastal fishing to off-shore fishing activities and displaced residents of marine preservation areas. Other activities including projects to apply new technology in fisheries farming or new and improved fishing methods will also qualify for the Fund’s support.

The establishment of the fund is part of a larger plan to develop the sector with a view to long term growth, where an export turnover target of US$4.5 billion has been set for the year 2010. The fisheries sector has set a target of receiving US$3.6 billion from seafood and marine exports this year, an increase of $0.3 billion over last year.

First Graders to Get Free Vaccine

2007-03-06T01:08:00.001-08:00

Children in the first grade will receive a second inoculation against measles free of charge as part of a drive to eliminate measles by 2010.

Children in the first grade will receive a second inoculation against measles free of
charge as part of a drive to eliminate measles by 2010, according to the director of the Expanded National Inoculation Programme, Associate Professor Do Sy Hien.

Many parents, however, don’t know about the availability of the free vaccination, said Hien.
Despite past efforts, the country still reported nearly 2,000 cases of measles last year, 2.5 times more than national targets.

Measles epidemics broke out in the three provinces of Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Thai Nguyen in the early months of last year, afflicting different age groups and not merely among children.
Hien was optimistic, however, that Viet Nam could meet the target of eliminating measles by 2010 if the vaccination programme was implemented well and early.

Overall, he noted, the rate of measles infection in the population has declined markedly in recent years.

Hien said the programme would provide inoculation against measles for students as soon as they start school as first-grade students. The State budget has provided funds for the programme.

The Ministry of Health and other offices were also mobilising several international organisations to provide funding for the programme, Hien said, and help a significant number of children in mountainous regions receive vaccinations against measles.

Hien also revealed that the Preventive Health Department was working with the programme to draft a regulation on safe inoculations. They hope to inform both health workers and parents about the inoculation process, empowering parents to take part in supervising the process.

Over 7 million Children with Mental Health Problems

2007-03-06T01:05:00.000-08:00

About 7mil children in Vietnam show signs of mental health problems such as lack of motivation to study, disobedience and truancy, said reports delivered at a seminar on social assistance to children with psychological problems in Hanoi on March 2.

Reports at the seminar, jointly held by the National Committee for Population, Family and Children and the Vietnam-UNICEF cooperation project, warned of the increasing number of children suffering anxiety, stress, psychological trauma and depression.

More and more kids suffered autism, depression and nervous breakdowns due to conflicts in schools and at home, reports said.

Disadvantaged children, including those infected with HIV/AIDS, street children, drug addicts children and victims of sexually abuse, were particularly vulnerable to psychological traumas and long-term mental illness, the reports said.

Workshop: Gender, Rights and Empowerment in Southeast Asia

2007-02-27T06:08:00.000-08:00

This conference will be taken place November 1-2, 2007, Eastin Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.

WARI is a Bangkok-based women’s organization devoted to gender research, education and training. It is organizing its 8^th annual gender and Southeast Asia conference on November 1-2, 2007. The event has been successful for the last 7 years. We are looking forward to your participation and to another year of successful meeting. The conference welcomes participants from SE Asia and other countries. We invite interested students, teachers, NGO and GO workers, activists, scholars, consultants, and representatives of UN/donor agencies to participate.

This year, we will have at least two panels devoted to issues of Thai women. Please circulate this announcement.

Gender issues are often resisted in SE Asia and other countries of the global south while gender training programs and discourse have often not been successful. At least four reasons can be cited. One is the resistance of men and bureaucracies headed by men. Two, women’s movements have often been perceived as an imitation of western women’s liberation demanding personal/individual rights. This approach perceived as promoting self-centeredness has not made much sense to most women who still hold fast to traditional obligation toward family and society. In Thailand where patron-client relations prevail, family rather than market or the state is still the safety net. Third, effective gender education is lacking and not adequately supported by donor agencies or the state. And fourth, funding agencies sometimes create contradictory consequences. Policy-wise, they help maintain activists’ programs. But for their own survival, they keep activists busy in the market mechanism of proposal and report writing. This “professionalization” of women/gender issues sometimes encourages middle class entrepreneurship in the name of working for gender justice. The constellation of donors and circles of women NGO clients leave little space for dissent and critical voices. This conformation or complacency to such mechanism sometimes turns once idealist to self-promoting activists/scholars busy in travel, meeting and accounting than continuing their personal and institutional resistance against social injustice or market mechanism.

There are very few courageous voices, but the obstacles to promotion of gender justice are many. The voice of middle class is often heard, but the voice of and attention to marginal women is lacking.

In spite of mental resistance and funding obstacles, WARI wants to continue this dialogue. The aim of the annual conference is to advance gender understanding and to deepen gender, rights and empowerment approaches in order to develop and facilitate their application to emerging social issues and challenges. The conference hopes to foster a network of Gender Education and training (GET Net) to support and help facilitate a continuing dialogue on gender, capacity building and critical human resource development.

The conference would be held right after a seven-day gender-training workshop on gender and human rights in SE Asia. The issues of gender, diversity, culture, education, and rights, along with issues of training and conceptualization are of continuing interest. In addition, we are interested in the application of gender and rights approaches to contemporary areas of HIV/AIDS, violence, and trafficking, and to the case studies of marginalized women such as girl child, migrant women and ethnic minorities. Possible panels are as follows. Additional panels on related issues can also be suggested.
1. Gender, diversity, identity, education and training
2. Challenges of gender and development issues in Thailand, Mekong region and SE Asia
3. Rights-based approach and women’s empowerment
4. Gender issues in HIV/AIDS, violence, and trafficking
5. Issues of marginal women: girl child, migrants, and ethnic minorities
6. Application of CEDAW and MDGs

The conference uses English medium and will be held at Eastin Hotel, Bangkok on November 1-2, 2007. The registration fee is USD100 or 3,500 baht. Scholarship (for Thai and other needy participants) is available to reduce the registration fee to 1,500 baht. Registration form is
attached or could be accessed with other details from our website geocities.com/wari. Last date for registration is April 15, and for paper submission June 30, 2007.

You don’t have to submit a paper to participate. Our email gendertrain@yahoo.com

US Government Donation Not Enough: Activist

2007-02-27T06:04:00.001-08:00

While the US government’s donation of US$400,000 towards a $1 million study into removing toxic chemicals from the environment and cleaning up a site in Da Nang is welcome, it’s not enough, said Len Aldis, general secretary of the UK-Viet Nam Friendship Association.

It is a very small step – and long overdue – on the long road to the eradication of the legacy left by the use of millions of litres of Agent Orange and other chemicals used and sprayed by the US," he said.

In a letter to the Viet Nam News Agency bureau in London, Aldis wrote, "Today in Viet Nam there are over three million living victims including newborn babies, suffering from illness, many with severe disabilities caused through Agent Orange. Of what benefit to them will be the $400,000 or $1 million?".

Kim Lien Primary school has undergone a few modifications recently to make it more accessible to wheelchairs

2007-02-27T06:02:00.000-08:00

The US$10,000 "Making schools more friendly to students with disabilities" project was funded by the World Bank and involves building ramps for wheelchairs. Work began last August, organised by the Access Working Group of People with Disabilities and Handicap International.

The group visited 20 educational establishments in Ha Noi to gauge their suitability for the project.

"Most of the schools and universities we visited didn’t have disabled access, which explains why of the 20 schools we went to only one has a single disabled student," said Nguyen Hong Oanh, a member of the group.

The project is designed to advocate the rights of students with disabilities and to raise awareness about the lack of wheelchair access in schools and universities.

"Instead of feeling the shame of having to rely on other people’s help, disabled students can now attend school unaided," said Nguyen Hong Ha, the project’s manager.

Since the project was launched last year, two schools and one university now have disabled access: Kim Lien Primary School, Tam Khuong Secondary School and the University of Labour and Social Affairs (ULSA).

All three establishments now have wheelchair access to the toilets, while disabled students attending Tam Khuong can now visit the library unaided.

"I’m very happy because at least my son can feel more comfortable in school," said Nguyen Thanh Huyen, whose wheelchair-bound 14-year-old son Nguyen Van Kien attends Tam Khuong.

Ha said the project wasn’t simply about building ramps in schools but about creating "a society without barriers" where people with disabilities can lead a normal life.

"With better accessibility, we hope more and more disabled children will go to school," added Ha.

Poverty Action Program 2015 - Vietnam (AP 2015)

2007-02-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

The “Poverty Action Program 2015” (AP 2015) for the Focus Country Vietnam is to be seen as part of the German contribution to the implementation of the “Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy” (CPRGS) on the national and (in particular) on the decentralized and local levels.

The overall goal of the AP 2015 is to strengthen the collaboration between stakeholders of the German Development Cooperation and stakeholders in selected partner countries in their joint efforts to reduce extreme poverty to half until the year 2015.

In Vietnam, the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS) was approved by the Prime Minister in May 2002. Its implementation is a major challenge for involved government bodies and civil society in the years to come. Targets on the national (macro) level include the improvement of framework conditions and the harmonization of sectoral approaches for an ecologically sustainable and socially balanced economic growth. Targets on the decentralized (meso and micro) levels include the strengthening of capacities of local institutions and beneficiary organizations with the aim to actively involve them in the implementation and poverty impact monitoring of projects under the umbrella of the CPRGS. On the local level, this process is also meant to strengthen “Grass Roots Democracy.”

Partner: Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), CPRGS-Secretariat
Additional Partners: Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), People’s Committees and Technical Departments in selected Provinces and Districts
Location: Hanoi, Son La, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Dak Lak and other selected provinces
Contribution: € 2.22 million
Commencement: 2002

Background

The Federal Government of Germany has supported the participatory formulation of the CPRGS and the initial steps of its implementation by a number of programs and projects in the major fields of German development assistance. With the AP 2015, additional funds are made available by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ) to further “mainstream” the focus of poverty-related impacts of these programs and projects and implement specific support activities for the decentralized implementation of the CPRGS in close association with ongoing GTZ projects and their Vietnamese counterpart structures.

Objectives

Since the year 2002, the AP 2015 in Vietnam supports the CPRGS implementation both on macro and decentralized levels in the form of three projects. As from 2002, the project 'Poverty Implementation Fund, Focus Country Vietnam' (PN 2002.2091.3) aims at improving the co-ordination among Ministries involved in the CPRGS, as well as between the national and the provincial levels. As from 2003, funds were made available for a number of additional activities: The project 'Social Security for poor Population Groups' (PN 03.3504-2-019.00) mainly aims at improving framework conditions on the macro level with some pilot implementation activities for vulnerable social groups. The project 'Poverty Impact Monitoring, Implementation of MDGs, poverty- and gender-orientated Budget Planning' (PN 03.3504-2-018.00) is targeted at micro level (selected districts, communes and villages) to develop models and implement pilot activities with direct beneficiary participation of the poor population.

Target Groups

Direct beneficiaries of the AP 2015 are poor families, women, men, youth and children in the selected villages and communes of the provinces of Son La, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Dak Lak, as well as other vulnerable groups (e.g. handicapped) in urban areas, such as Hanoi. They benefit through improved targeting of the CPRGS 'roll out' on decentralized levels due to stronger demand-oriented and gender specific programming. Based on expressed local aspirations and needs, the program supports a process in which planning, implementation and monitoring of poverty-related activities are truly 'owned' by the beneficiaries. On a pilot and modeling basis, the program also provides local development funds which are directly managed by local communities.

Capacity building is targeted also to “intermediaries” of the process, such as involved government bodies, mass organizations, vocational training centers and other groups of civil society.

Implementation

Apart from a direct support to the CPRGS Secretariat within MPI, which is charged by the Government of Vietnam with the co-ordination of the CPRGS, other program activities are implemented in close association with ongoing GTZ-supported projects and their Vietnamese counterpart structures. The major implementation components of the program include:

Implementation Components Vietnamese Partner (associated GTZ project)

Son La - gender activities, commune budgets, grass roots democracy, village development funds -- DPI and Vocational Training Centre Son La (SFDP)
Thanh Hoa and Dak Lak - village development funds -- DPC Thuan Xuan (Thanh Hoa)
- DPC Mad Rak (Dak Lak) (REFAS )
Quang Binh - gender activities, village development funds -- PPC Quang Binh (IFSP, SMNR-CV)
Dak Lak - VDP, village development funds -- DPI Dak Lak (RDDL)
Hanoi and selected provinces - gender activities, poverty impact monitoring, village risk cover funds, social security mechanisms -- MOLISA (GTZ-MOLISA)
Hanoi - social security for the handicapped -- VIETCOT (GTZ-VIETCOT)
Hanoi and selected provinces - vocational training, support to vulnerable groups -- MoE (GTZ-BBPV)

Address of the Program Office:

GTZ Office Hanoi
6th floor, Hanoi Towers
49 Hai Ba Trung
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel. +84-4-9344951
Fax +84-4-9344950
E-mail: wiemer@ap2015-vietnam.org
nha@ap2015-vietnam.org

US grant for cleaning up Agent Orange site a pittance: expert

2007-02-20T22:34:00.000-08:00

ThanhNien - A US donation of US$400,000 for a $1 million study into cleaning up a chemical dump in Da Nang is welcome but inadequate, general secretary of the UK-Vietnam Friendship Association, Len Aldis, said.

“It is a very small step – and long overdue – on the long road to the eradication of the legacy left by the use of millions of liters of Agent Orange and other chemicals used and sprayed by the US,” he said.

In a letter to the Vietnam News Agency’s bureau in London, he said: “Today in Vietnam there are over three million living victims including new-born babies, suffering from illness, many with severe disabilities caused by Agent Orange.”

“Of what benefit to them will be the $400,000 or $1 million?” he asked.

International donors to back VN’s sustainable development

2007-02-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

VietnamNews — The international community has promised to help Viet Nam overcome the difficulties it will face to achieve its sustainable development targets during integration into the international community.

Addressing a recent donors’ meeting on environment and natural resources in the capital, Danish Ambassador to Viet Nam Peter Lysholt Hansen voiced appreciation for Viet Nam’s decision to allocate one per cent of its State budget to environmental protection from 2006.

Continued pressure
Tran Thi Minh Ha, Director of the Department for International Co-operation at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said Viet Nam is facing many challenges following admission into the World Trade Organisation.

"Development opportunities are many, so are the challenges," said Ha.

According to Ha, the biggest challenges come from exploitation of the country’s natural resources and environmental pollution.

She said mobilisation and exploitation of the country’s natural resources to meet the demands of rapid economic growth and cross-border pollution would seriously degrade the environment and cause an imbalance in the natural ecosystem. This would have a negative impact on sustainable development, the people’s health and quality of life, Ha said, adding that these problems were also the result of the country’s industrialisation and modernisation.

Pollution caused by waste water, industrial waste, household waste and emissions from industrial parks and urban areas across the nation have become a barrier to development, she said.

Environmental goals
Environmental protection is one of the country’s top priorities. That was the conclusion of bilateral negotiations with the European Union for accession to the WTO in July 2004. It has subsequently become one of the 11 service commitments Viet Nam has made for joining the WTO.

The country’s environmental commitments include waste water and industrial waste treatment, and controls on air and noise pollution.

Foreign invested enterprises, in which the foreign partner will be allowed to hold up to 51 per cent of the firm’s chartered capital within four years following Viet Nam’s accession to the WTO, are permitted to provide these environmental services. After four years, the foreign partner will have the right to set up on its own - but not as a branch - in Viet Nam.

Mai Ai Truc, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said to comply with the country’s commitments to the WTO, Viet Nam needed to ensure the legal framework governing the environment was in place.

The increase in economic exchanges among nations could turn Viet Nam into a "dumping ground" for unfriendly environmental products, Truc said.

Not enough
Though the government has allocated one per cent of the state budget to environmental protection, the sum is not enough, said Truc. He said it was forecast that over the next few years capital coming from Official Development Assistance would be reduced, particularly non-refundable loans.

To cope with this situation, Viet Nam should encourage foreign investment in environmental protection, the Minister said, adding that environmental protection should be part and parcel of all government policy.

According to a Swedish environmental expert, Viet Nam should only grant investment licences to inves tors who have included in their proposals good environmental treatment measures. He also suggested that Viet Nam should develop a national target programme on environmental protection and sustainable development which investors could participate in.

Klaus Rohland, the World Bank country representative suggested that Viet Nam should encourage enterprises to adopt business-development strategies based on sustainable development. He suggested the government come up with a proper sanction mechanism for enterprises that violate environmental laws and regulations.

Development aid conference starts in Vietnam

2007-02-14T05:38:00.000-08:00

International aid experts from the World Bank, UN and other development agencies and 40 nations met in Vietnam on Monday for a four-day conference aimed at making global development efforts more effective.

The Hanoi meeting will study ways of making worldwide foreign aid -- which, organisers said, reached a record 87 billion dollars in 2005 -- more effective in eradicating poverty.

The Third International Roundtable on Managing For Development Results will bring experts and officials from the UN Development Programme and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and scores of aid agencies, non-profit groups and private companies were also expected at the meeting.

The conference follows similar meetings in 2002 in Monterrey, Mexico, where world leaders called on rich countries to give more aid and on poor countries to use it better, and a similar roundtable in Marrakech, Morocco in 2004.

At a 2005 meeting in France, 60 donor countries and 60 aid recipients endorsed the Paris Declaration to increase aid harmonisation and accountability and greater decision-making powers for the receiving country.

Host Vietnam has been praised for its poverty-eradication programmes, and has been chosen as a pilot country in which separate UN agencies will streamline their operations to work under a common leadership and budget.

The World Bank in Vietnam plans on Tuesday to announce that it will provide Vietnam with over four billion dollars in interest-free credit until 2011 to continue its poverty reduction and development efforts.

International roundtable on seeking better aid usage opens in Viet Nam

2007-02-14T05:37:00.000-08:00

The third international roundtable on managing for development results kicked off here Tuesday, aiming at helping developing countries and donors gain more results with their aid money.

"The main objective of the roundtable is to achieve firm political commitments as well as agreed action plans among donors and partner countries on enhancing aid effectiveness by managing for development results," Pham Gia Khiem, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, said at the event's opening ceremony.

The second roundtable in 2004 in Morocco agreed on five principles for managing results: increasing dialogues, linking planning, monitoring and evaluation with results, simplifying indicators, and use of results information, he noted.

Over 400 government officials and experts from 42 countries, 33 aid and donor agencies and 30 non-governmental organizations and private companies have registered to participate in the three-day third roundtable to discuss how to better improve the results made possible with development aid which stood at 87 billion U.S. dollars in 2005 worldwide.

At the roundtable hosted by the Vietnamese government and sponsored by several foreign organizations including the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, Xu Lin, Director General of the Department of Fiscal and Financial Affairs under China's National Development and Reform Commission, told delegates in his keynote speech to the opening session
his country's recent experience and approach to the development of a result-based planning system. Political leadership and the government should be united to work closely to promote development for people, while the government should have a strategic development plan with clear directions for the country, he said.

"Public participation is necessary to reach common understanding about any issues within five-year plans and maintain the political support for them," he added.

ThanhNien Newspaper comes to aid of poor blind in Vietnam

2007-02-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Thanh Nien newspaper and an Australia-based charity organization have provided financial assistance for performing cataract surgeries on 200 people at a medical center in a central Vietnamese province.

Thanh Nien and the Fred Hollows Foundation provided VND140 million (US$8,750) to the center in Quang Ngai.

Thanks to the Sight for Life project, a total of 1,100 people have regained eyesight.
This is for the 25^th time that Thanh Nien funded cataract surgeries all over the country and the fifth time in Quang Ngai.

“My eyes can see, I am so happy,” 76-year-old Nguyen Bao of Son Tinh district said joyously.

Another man wept: “I feel as if I have been born a second time.”

Sight for Life was launched by Thanh Nien in 2003 to help needy patients, and has so far benefited more than 1,700 people at a cost of well over VND1 billion ($63,000). The Central Eye Hospital said around 80,000 people (0.1 percent of the population) suffered from cataract annually, but many still could not afford the now-routine surgery.

Sony Viet Nam loves being ‘green’

2007-02-08T06:51:00.000-08:00

VietnamNews — Sony Viet Nam was awarded first prize in the "Green Business Firm" awards. The awards were handed out by the HCM City Department of Natural Resources and Environment to companies that foster corporate and community environmental awareness.

The company became the only electronics firm in the awards history to receive the top honour so far, and was lauded for its launching of corporate responsibility programmes and community schemes such as the Green Sony Inventions Award. Their own inventions prize has been given out since 2000, and has become a prestigious award for university students nationwide that invent or contribute research to environmental protection.

Since it began operations in Viet Nam some 20 years ago, the company has improved its production lines by scrapping the use of lead in its welding to ensure a smaller environmental footprint, said head of Sony Viet Nam’s International Relations Office, Vu Quoc Tuan.

Recently, the company launched the Green Sony Project Award which will run parallel with the Green Sony Inventions Awards. Prominent among those in attendance during the awards, held last week in HCM City, was Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Mai Ai Truc.

Viet Nam News Agency extends aid to Agent Orange victims

2007-02-07T14:19:00.001-08:00

Viet Nam News Agency has donated VND10mil in addition to medicine, milk and candy for Agent Orange child victims at a disabled children home in the central province of Quang Binh.

The aid was handed over by VNA Deputy General Director Tran Mai Huong during his visit to the centre on February 2 to leaders of the Duc Ninh Centre, which is raising over 74 disabled children, including over 40 affected by Agent Orange.

Huong, who is also President of the VNA Fund for Agent Orange Victims, also visited and presented gifts for A/O victims in Hanoi and the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

The VNA and its fund for A/O victims have decided to disburse almost VND165mil as Lunar New Year gifts for 150 families and centres raising disabled children in 21 provinces and cities nationwide.

Vietnam's White Paper on Human Rights

2007-02-07T14:08:00.000-08:00

Quote from the paper:

"Over thousands of years of national building and defense, the Vietnamese people have made untold sacrifices to gain the fundamental human rights, namely the right to live in independence and freedom, the right to food, clothing, housing, education and dignity. In the Declaration of Independence of September 2nd, 1945, giving birth to the independent and free State of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh proclaimed that "All the nations on the earth are equal from birth, all the nations have a right to live, to be happy and free."

It is the State of Vietnam's policy to respect and protect human rights. The State has also done its utmost to ensure the realization of human rights through the building and constant improvement of the legal system and the undertaking of concrete measures aimed at promoting economic, social and cultural development so that every citizen can enjoy a better life both materially and spiritually in an equal, democratic and civilised society.

To help the world public better understand the Vietnamese tradition in protecting and promoting human rights and the current human rights implementation in Vietnam, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam would like to introduce the book entitled "Achievements in Protecting and Promoting Human Rights in Vietnam".

Full paper in English is here >>

Centre helps to give voice to Hai Duong’s disabled children

2007-02-04T03:10:00.000-08:00

VietnamNews — The Social Sponsorship Centre in Hai Duong Province has provided language and vocational training to thousands of deaf and dumb children, helping them to stabilise lives with steady jobs in the process.

Most of the disabled children, other than having little hope for a future, didn’t even dream of learning to read and write, until the centre stepped in.

"Eighty per cent of the children, who received training here, have found suitable jobs with stable incomes," says Vu Huy Tuong, director of the Social Sponsorship Centre.

Nearly 5,000 children, most of them abandoned, have finished their courses and are now employed in various companies in the province.

When they came to the centre, according to Tuong, they could neither read nor write. But, at the centre, they were not only taught how to read and write, but also information technology (IT) skills, music and sports.

"Despite many difficulties, the efforts and patience of teachers have turned the centre into an effective rehabilitation centre for disabled children," Tuong said.

At present, the Social Sponsorship Centre has about 1,000 students with disabilities. Other than the 5,000 deaf and dumb gainfully employed students, the centre has also provided vocational training to over 3,000 students with other physical disabilities.

These figures have been achieved, thanks to the efforts of teachers at the centre, Tuong underlines.

Teachers like Anh Tuyet, who has been serving the centre for the last 16 years, has taught nearly 400 children to read and write and express themselves.

Firms that have hired students from the centre, like Chan Thien My Company that has employed over 400 graduates, are also happy with the performance of students.

Lauding their talents, Doan Xuan Tiep, director of the Chan Thien My Company, says that he has been surprised at the skills and abilities of students who are on par with normal employees.

"The company has signed a long-term contract with the centre pledging to only employ its graduates," Tiep said.

An opinion shared by the management boards of other companies in the province that hired students from the centre.

Other than teachers, the centre owes its excellence to people like Doan Thi Hop, who has served the centre loyally over a decade, taking care of children with disabilities.

A widow of a martyr, Hop says she is working out of sympathy for the unhappy children at the centre, who are either Agent Orange victims, deaf and dumb, mentally retarded, or paralysed.

Hop has also adopted three children who were abandoned at the provincial general hospital, with one adopted ten years ago still unable to speak. Despite her small monthly allowance, Hop says she is happy to take care of her adopted children and work at the centre.

VAVA raises cash, support for Agent Orange victims

2007-02-04T03:08:00.001-08:00

VietnamNews — The Viet Nam Agent Orange/dioxin Victims Association (VAVA) has reported that they raised over VND6.6 billion (US$412,500), in donations in 2006.

Deputy President and General Secretary of VAVA Tran Xuan Thu, reported at a meeting in Ha Noi, on Tuesday that the association had been extremely active in winning the support of the international community.

He cited the success of an international conference on AO/dioxin victims which hosted representatives from countries that sent troops to Viet Nam during the American war.

The conference highlighted the devastating consequences that Agent Orange has had on communities globally, and also went on to strengthen the bonds between Vietnamese victims, said the VAVA chief.

He added that impressive pledges for support were made by a number of delegations, including Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Great Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and Italy.

Thu also said that VAVA had worked closely with Thai Binh Province and Ha Noi hospitals to collect hundreds of dossiers on victims to strengthen its scientific evidence for a pending trial against US chemical companies, filed by Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims.

Thai Binh and Ha Noi have sent delegates to represent the thousands of Vietnamese A/O victims, while Military Hospital 108 and the Viet Nam-Russia Tropical Centre have provided medical evidence for the plaintiffs.

VAVA also unveiled their plans for the 2007 year, which will focus more attention on gaining greater international support for the trial, as well as a continuance of the groups aid efforts.

The association is awaiting on Government approval on a proposal to hold an international conference in Moscow, Russia, on the consequences of a chemical war left behind by American forces in Viet Nam. The conference would solidify more international support, especially in Eastern Europe, for the trial, concluded the VAVA leader.

The association also hopes to build a functional rehabilitation centre for victims from the central and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) regions, which will have international experts invited to work at the facility.

Dutch, Swedes fund bio-diversity preservation in central Vietnam

2007-02-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

Source: ThanhnienNews

Work started Thursday on a US$4-million project, funded by the Netherlands and Sweden, with focus on protecting the environment and preserving biological diversity in central Vietnam.

The project, with funding from the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund of the Netherlands and Swedish governments will be implemented in Quang Nam and Quang Tri provinces under the management and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank.

The project is aimed at preserving biodiversity, eliminating hunger and reducing poverty through the sustainable use of natural resources as well as the recovering and maintenance of the forests.

It also aims at improving managerial skills for local authorities and seeking a sustainable financial mechanism for environmental protection.

American veteran grants US$50,000 to war victims

2007-02-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

VietNamNet Bridge – An American family has channelled US$50,000 through the US Fund for Reconciliation and Development to help Agent Orange victims in Vietnam.

The aid was made in accordance with Bob Feldman's last wishes before he died in May 2006 of Agent Orange-related diseases that he caught during his military services in Vietnam.

The sum consists of US$30,000 the US Government has paid him in compensation and US$20,000 donated by his family and friends.

The aid was handed over in Hanoi on January 29 by a Deputy Director of the US Fund, Susan Hammond, to Nguyen Duc Phan, Director of the Fund in Support of Agent Orange/dioxin Victims under the Viet Nam Red Cross Association.

Bidding for scientific grants: a flawed concept from the outset

2007-02-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

VietNamNet Bridge – Professor Hoang Tuy spoke to the Thoi bao Kinh te Sai Gon (Sai Gon Economic Times) about the difficulty scientists are experiencing when trying to win Government grants for their proposals.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to let the Ministry of Science and Technology come up with 95 research topics and then invite interested researchers to bid on the projects.

To build a factory or a highway, the basic technology required in the construction is universal, but the quality and the cost depend very much on the contractor’s proposal.

This analogy is the same for scientific work, except when it comes to comparing the respective goals of a construction worker and a researcher.

Scientists or academics use their creativity to gain more knowledge, and though they have an idea of what might be achieved, often there is no definite goal before the research begins. This is unlike a worker that promises a building at the end of a contract.

Researchers do not know whether their hypotheses are right and so the end result(s) of their work may be radically different than planned.

That’s why funding organisations in developed countries don’t ask researchers to bid in order to receive money. In order to get a grant, scientists and academics don’t promise results, instead, they explain what the research is about, its significance and what they hope to achieve.

I can say governments offering grants for research are not a new phenomena, nor is the competitive nature of bidding or writing proposals to get the funding. What worries me is whether the bidding process will be transparent and fair.

If that was the case, a level playing field must be given to all researchers, be they young or old.

In my opinion, the Ministry should create a special board to carefully study the proposals submitted. Each member of the panel will give their score based on a common set of criteria. The whole process must be conducted openly and carefully recorded.

We all recognise that scientific research plays an important role in the economic, cultural and political life of every nation. Research activities are often conducted by universities or research institutes that specialise in certain areas.

Their research must have funding, sometimes large sums of money donated by the institutes as well as from the government.

In my opinion, if we want to get results from our research then the Government should list some areas of interest and let the experts in those fields decide what research topic they are most suited for.

What I mean is the government will act like a project supervisor and look at how its money should be invested, allowing experts to propose what research should be conducted.

There are many examples of government trying to control this process that have gained few results.

Looking at this strategy, I wonder if this is the best way to fund academic and scientific research. I also wonder if this kind of competitive environment will promote scientific and technological advancement in Vietnam.

Late US veteran gives $50,000 aid to Agent Orange victims

2007-02-01T04:08:00.000-08:00

Source: VietnamNews

The US based Fund for Reconciliation and Development handed over US$50,000 to aid Agent Orange (AO) victims in Viet Nam yesterday.

The funds were donated by the estate of Bob Feldman, an AO sufferer and US veteran of the Viet Nam war. Feldman had originally received a $30,000 pay out from the US Government, however, before his death in May 2006, he had made plans to send the money to the AO Victim Aid Fund managed by the Viet Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC).

Feldman also asked that the funds be disbursed in the provinces of Bien Hoa, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, Kon Tum and Quang Nam. A portion of the bequest is expected to be used to support programmes for micro credit schemes, health care and vocational training for AO victims.

According to the VNRC, there are more than 2 million AO victims in Viet Nam. Many of whom are sick and living in poverty.

700 billion VND for population control and child-care

2007-02-01T04:07:00.000-08:00

Viet Nam plans to earmark nearly 700 billion VND (43.75 million USD) for promoting population control and family planning as well as child-care activities in 2007. More than 560 billion VND of the fund will be disbursed from the State budget and the remaining will be sourced from donors, said a conference held in Ha Noi on Jan. 26 by the National Commission for Population, Family and Children.

In 2007, the population control and family planning programme will focus on tightening inspection over population structure and ameliorating living conditions for the whole population. The country also targets to reduce the birth rate to three per thousand in 2007 in order to keep its population at 85.3 million.

In order to fulfill these targets, chairwoman of the committee Le Thi Thu pointed to the need to speed up information dissemination and encourage involvement of every sector in implementing the population and family planning mission.

Besides, relevant ministries and agencies should continue finalising the legal system and policies on population and improving the quality of the management and information.

Britain agrees to provide Vietnam US$450 million to fight poverty

2007-02-01T04:05:00.000-08:00

Source: Associated Press Worldstream

Britain signed an agreement Tuesday September 19, 2006 to provide Vietnam with 250 million pounds (US$450 million; euro355 million) in grants over the next five years to help the communist country fight poverty.

Britain's visiting International Development Secretary Hilary Benn and Vietnam's Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc signed the deal, part of a 10-year development partnership arrangement between the two countries.

"It recognizes the quite extraordinary progress which Vietnam has made in recent years in reducing poverty, lifting 30 million people out of poverty in a generation," Benn told reporters after the signing ceremony.

"It is a success story which has been hidden from the rest of the world," he said. Benn, however, said the aid does not come without conditions. He said it was dependent on poverty reduction efforts, human rights, the fight against corruption, good governance, and financial management reform.

The Department for International Development has provided a total of 190
million pounds (US$350 million; euro276 million) to Vietnam since 1992.

Money raised by Terry Fox Run presented to Tumour Hospital

2007-01-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

Source: NhanDan

The Canadian Embassy on January 18 presented VND 305 million (US $19,000) collected from the Terry Fox Run held in Hanoi last September to the Tumour Hospital in support of the hospital's cancer research.

The Terry Fox Run 2006, the seventh of its kind in Hanoi, attracted more than 8,000 participants.

The organising board, including the Canadian Embassy, the Canadian Trade Chamber in Hanoi, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations, the Vietnam-Canada Friendship Organisation, the Hanoi Health Department and the Tumour Hospital, organises the run to raise funds for cancer research on the first Sunday of November every year. The event annually takes place around Thien Quang Lake, Hanoi.

The run is held in commemoration of Terry Fox, a Canadian who lost one leg because of bone cancer. He ran across Canada in 143 days to raise money for cancer research.

To date, more than US $400 million have been raised for cancer research through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world.

In Vietnam, the first Terry Fox Runs were held in Ho Chi Minh City in 1996 and in Hanoi in 2000. More than VND 3 billion (nearly US $200,000) have so far been collected.

1,000 new year gifts for disadvantaged children

2007-01-22T06:37:00.001-08:00

Source: NhanDan

The Vietnam Children Support Fund, in co-ordination with the committees on population, family and children of Quang Binh, Quang Nam and Da Nang provinces and Samaritan's Purse, an international relief agency of Canada, visited and presented 1,000 new year gifts to disadvantaged children in the localities.

Accordingly, 500 gifts were presented to disadvantaged children in Quang Binh; 300 gifts for Quang Nam's disadvantaged children and 200 gifts for Da Nang's disadvantaged children. Each gift cost VND 150,000.

On the occasion of the Chrismas and year year, Samaritan's Purse sponsored the Vietnam Children Support Fund with 43,743 gifts worth US $441,060 for poor children in Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

DANIDA supports HIV entertainment-education radio programmes

2007-01-22T06:34:00.000-08:00

(Nhan Dan Online) The minor project called “Support to the Voice of Vietnam in producing and broadcasting an entertainment-education radio programme for positive behaviour change on HIV/AIDS Prevention” is supported by the Danish International Development Agency with US $770,000. The Long-term objective is to contribute to improving the quality of life for the Vietnamese people through improved quality of and access to reproductive health services.

This new minor DANIDA-project in co-operation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will support information for the Vietnamese people, especially young people. This will be done through strengthening the capacity of the Voice of Vietnam radio (VOV) in producing and broadcasting an entertainment programme for behaviour change on HIV/AIDS prevention.

This is the second project funded by DANIDA to support the VOV in broadcasting an education/counselling programme on reproductive health for young people. The former project with VOV was to broadcast a phone-in radio programme called “Window of Love”. This programme was well received by young listeners and the government officers.

The lack of awareness and inappropriate understanding of HIV/AIDS are the main factors that contribute to stigma and discrimination of people infected with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. Vietnam’s mass media organisations (radio, television, print newspapers, online newspapers, films, etc) have made active contributions to the fight against HIV/AIDS through long-standing and systematic campaigns.

This project will use a serialised radio drama to improve the awareness and change behaviour towards healthy behaviours for HIV/AIDS prevention, especially focusing on stigma and discrimination reduction.

After the signing ceremony on 24 January 2007, the project will be officially implemented to December 2009, as a serialised radio drama of 104 episodes, following the entertainment-education methodology pioneered by Miguel Sabido of Mexico.

There is ample evidence from Sabido style serial dramas of their effectiveness in changing behaviour with regard to HIV prevention and stigma reductions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The reasons for its effectiveness include the high entertainment value that attracts large audiences, the emotional content of the dramas that improves retention of the information learned, and the use of role modelling rather than the messages as a way to influence audience behaviour.

The radio soap opera in Vietnamese on VOV will cater to listeners in all 64 provinces and cities and will be transcript into Khmer, Mong and Thai language to serve ethnic listeners in various provinces including those living in border areas.

Special attention needed for mountainous areas

2007-01-22T06:28:00.000-08:00

Dr Phan Van Hung, deputy headof the Institute of Nationalities
NhanDan

Positive impacts
It is of common knowledge that the economy in mountainous and ethnic minority areas has experienced the lowest growth rate as compared to other regions nationwide. One of the major reasons is the shortage of capital for improving infrastructure and developing industrial, agricultural, commercial and services establishments.

The implementation of open door policy and integration into the international economy led the mobilisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) resources and official development aid (ODA) to exploit and promote the country’s potentials and strength, thus speeding up the modernisation and industrialisation of mountainous and ethnic minority areas. Statistics in the 1998-2005 period showed that the areas attracted 459 FDI projects with a total registered capital of US $3,268 million (roughly VND 52,000 billion). These projects contributed to economic development and job creation for people of different ethnic minority groups in many localities.

The mobilisation of ODA capital has also played an important part in socio-economic development and poverty reduction in ethnic minority areas. In the 1998-2004 period alone, ODA capital granted by international organisations through 340 hunger elimination and poverty reduction projects reached US $1,153 million (about VND 18,000 billion).

In the past years, the above mentioned capital was geared mainly in implementing the projects on transport, electric power supply, agriculture and social infrastructure and served as an important source which helped reduce poverty and improve the living standards of ethnic minority people. Following the joining to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and successful organisation of the APEC Meeting, Vietnam’s prestige was raised to a new height and was marked by a record of US $4.445 billion in ODA pledged by international donors to Vietnam for the year 2007 at the Consultative Group (CG) meeting held in Hanoi in December 2006.

By the end of 2006, the World Bank (WB), countries and international organisations also committed to assisting poverty reduction activities in remote areas with a total of over US $200 million, representing the highest sum so far.

In the coming period, FDI capital is expected to increase as the country integrates deeper in the international economy.

After many years of carrying out economic restructuring towards commodity production, mountainous and ethnic minority areas have created a large quantity of goods for export, including a number of high world ranking items namely coffee, rubber, pepper and tea, bringing about significant source for the country and at the same time improving the people’s living standards. However, this process has faced several difficulties such as unstable prices and obstacles in getting access to large markets including high tax and unequal competition.

In the 1990s, people in mountainous and ethnic minority areas used to plant low yield crops which led to low income and hence widespread poverty. Thanks to the renovation process, there appeared many new plants such as maize, rice, soybeans, fruit trees and sugar-cane trees and poultries and livestock namely cows, chickens, ducks and swans imported from other countries which helped create high economic value to support poverty reduction. Many households have become rich from the application of new seeds and modern techniques. In recent time, many international organisations have deployed the models and projects of sustainable economic development in combination with environmental protection for mountainous and ethnic minority areas.

Among the socio-economic achievements in mountainous and ethnic minority areas, the records in the field of culture are of great significance. During the process of international integration, Vietnam was able buy equipment to transmit radio and television programmes to remote areas in difficulties. This was only a dream in the past.

People living in remote and mountainous areas are now able to watch important political and sport events in the country and in the world which are live broadcast. Through the means of communications, people of different ethnic groups are improving their knowledge about politics, cultures in other countries.

Difficulties and challenges
Of course, international economic integration and development of market economy create negative impacts, increasing poverty and living gap.

Vietnam has made impressive results in poverty reduction, however the gap between the rich and the poor continued to rise. Once the country integrates itself deeper in the world economy, part of ethnic minority people in remote and mountainous areas, who have low knowledge, will find it more difficult to access the market and social services and their income and living standards could be further and further lower than urban areas.

In fact, the goods in mountainous and ethnic minority areas are yet to develop. The scale of production is still small and scattered together with low quality, failing to meet the international food safety and hygiene standards. This means that from now on, their products will find it more difficult to overcome the barriers in terms of high standards in technique and environment. A number of products of high value such as sugar cane, maize and fruits will face critical competition and difficulties.

During the process of exchange and integration, the alien lifestyles and cultures would influence the community of Vietnamese nationalities or change their traditional values and identities. The traditional cultural factors namely languages, houses, architectures, clothes, music, foods, customs and lifestyles would be strongly impacted. Due to economic integration, cheap and convenient industrial products from other countries could fade several traditional crafts such as weaving and casting.

The fact has proved that despite the State agencies and local administration’s efforts in preserving the forest land in recent years, the area of natural forests continued to be violated together with environmental pollution caused by industrial establishments. The balance of economic development and environmental protection is now a great challenge for mountainous and ethnic minority areas.

Suggestions
Based on the recent experience and the trend of deeper international economic integration, it is necessary to implement the following proposed solutions to ensure sustainable development for mountainous and ethnic minority area- provide sufficient knowledge and improve abilities in international economic integration among officials in these areas so as to help them make full use of the opportunities and overcome challenges and accelerate socio-economic development and reduce poverty for people of different nationalities.

- give priority to implementing socio-economic development and poverty reduction projects in ethnic minority areas. The State should continue to invest in building infrastructure and creating favourable conditions for socio-economic development there. Attention should be focused on implementing projects on reducing poverty, raising income and narrowing income gap between nationalities and regions. In addition, stronger measures are needed to fight against crimes, drug related evils, prostitution and HIV spreading.

- raise the efficiency of ODA projects launched for mountainous and ethnic minority areas, ensure that investment leads to practical results and meet the aspirations of ethnic minority people. Implement policies on attracting FID capital, speed up economic growth rate in the areas of favourable conditions and create jobs for children of different nationalities.

- work out overall solutions on social security to support poor people and areas as well as those of high vulnerability, thus limiting the negative impacts and influences during the process of international economic integration and globalisation.

- strengthening national defence, combing well economic integration with preservation of social stability and cultural identities of ethnic groups. Agencies in charge of ethnic minority affairs should understand and meet the legitimate aspirations of ethnic minority people to prevent the dark attempts in using the issue of ethnic minority and religion to divide the national great unity bloc.

International economic integration is creating both big opportunities and challenges for the development of mountainous and ethnic minority areas. In order to make this integration efficient, officials in charge of ethnic minority work need to learn how to make full use of opportunities and overcome challenges. Improving capabilities for them is a basic factor to ensure successful implementation of the Party's renovation and nationalities policies.

Samsung Vina offers $300,000 more to child heart patients

2007-01-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

Source: Thanhnien News

Samsung Vina Electronics joint venture announced Friday it would offer assistance worth $300,000 to congenital heart patients in Vietnam in the second phase of the 2007-11 program, “Heart to Heart”.

Director-General of Samsung Vina, Sang Youl Eom expressed his elation with the continuation of the program, “We are glad that our program has saved the lives of many needy children.

“It has also, more importantly, trained Vietnamese doctors and transferred to the country the most up-to-date technology, allowing more patients to be treated,” Sang said.

On the occasion of the ceremony held for the first phase from 2003 to 2006 at Hanoi-based Daewoo hotel, Sang also provided the National Pediatrics Hospital (NPH) with a new ambulance worth $37,000.

The program, launched in 2003, is a result of cooperation between Samsung Vina, Korean-based Samsung Medical Center and the NPH; offering free diagnosis, treatment and operations for poor children who suffer congenital heart disease, as well as providing health staff with training and technology transfer.

Under the first phase, worth $250,000, of 41 patients receiving operations, nine of the most serious cases were brought to the Republic of Korea for further treatment.

In addition, thirty Vietnamese doctors have flown to the RoK to attend short training courses, and the NPH itself has received $43,000 in advanced health care equipment.

Addressing the ceremony, head of the NPH Heart Department, Doctor Pham Huu Hoa said, “With the new technology and know-how from our Korean counterparts, we have successfully saved more than 300 patients.”

Two Vietnamese named young global leaders

2007-01-22T06:20:00.000-08:00

Source: ThanhnienNews

Vietnam’s Nguyen Thanh Hung and Pham Thi Hue are among 250 Young Global Leaders of 2007, the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced Tuesday in Switzerland.

Nguyen Thanh Hung, who has a doctorate in automation from the Russian Academy of Sciences and other academic accomplishments, is the founder and chairman of the Sovico Group, one of the largest companies in Vietnam.

Founded in 1992, Sovico is a dynamic international trading and investment company with offices in more than 10 countries.

Hung has also set up a charity fund of US$1 million to assist poor children.

Pham Thi Hue is the founder of Hai Phong Red Flamboyant in northern Vietnam, a support group for people living with HIV/AIDS, founded in 2005.

Hue was infected with HIV by her husband but refused to be shamed into silence unlike most Vietnamese with the disease.

She is now the public face of Mothers and Wives, an HIV/AIDS support group sponsored by a Norwegian NGO and her city administration.

She was named an ‘Asian hero’ by the US’s Time magazine in 2004 and became a UN volunteer in 2005.

Initiated in 2004 by WEF’s executive chairman, Klaus Schwab, the Young Global Leaders program acknowledges the outstanding contributions to the community by executives, public figures, and intellectuals around the world.

How do we apply for NGO status in Vietnam?

2007-01-21T05:24:00.000-08:00

Source: AmCham Vietnam

Question

How do we apply for NGO status in Vietnam? What are the criteria, laws and regulations?

Answer

“NGO status” in Vietnam is roughly similar to “Public Charity” 501c(3) tax-exempt status in the U.S., while the American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam is roughly similar to “Business League” 501c(6) tax-exempt status in the U.S.

The U.S. Case – “Public Charity” – 501c(3) Tax-Exempt Organization

Life Cycle of a Public Charity in the U.S.
During its existence, a public charity has numerous interactions with the IRS – from filing an application for recognition of tax-exempt status under the law, to filing the required annual information returns, to making changes in its mission and purpose.

Exemption Requirements in the U.S.
A brief description of the requirements for exemption under IRC Section 501c(3).

Appllication for Recognition of Exemption in the U.S.
Procedures for applying for exemption under Internal Revenue Section 501c(3).

Filing Requirements in the U.S.
A brief description of annual filing requirements for tax-exempt organizations.

The Vietnam Case – “Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations”

We understand from reports that there are 514 NGOs in Vietnam, and that they will donate $100 million in community building activities 2003.

The Regulations on the Operation of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations in Viet Nam (herein referred to as the Regulations) promulgated in accordance with Decision No.340/QD-TTg dated 24 May 1996 of the Prime Minister, provide the legal environment for foreign NGOs to work in Viet Nam.

The Committee for Foreign Non-Governmental Organization Affairs (herein referred to as the Committee) was established to address issues relating to foreign NGOs. The President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) has been assigned as Executive Member of the Committee. VUFO bears the principal responsibility for aid mobilization and for relations with foreign NGOs.

The People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM), the specialized and functional body of VUFO, was established on 10 June 1989. The organizational structure of PACCOM includes Director, Deputy Directors and Programme Coordinators, working in four desks (Administration, Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific).

Its functional activities include: “Processing the issuance, extension, amendment of Permits of different types for foreign NGOs working in Viet Nam, according to the Regulations.”

The People’s Aid Co-ordinating Committee (PACCOM)

Headquarters
105A Quan Thanh, Ha Noi, Viet Nam
Tel.: (84 4) 8436 936/7
Fax: (84 4) 8452 007
info@paccom.org.vn

Southern Representative Office
9 Le Duan Boulevard, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: 84 8 8250 372
Fax: 84 8 8333 436

For additional information, click on these links:

VUFO-NGO Resource Centre – PACCOM

Guidelines for the Implementation of the Regulations on the Operation of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations in Vietnam, 07 Aug 1996 (pdf file).

Asian Development Bank – Discussion Paper – A Study of NGOs in Vietnam, April 1999.

Next steps

You may, of course, do-it-yourself and submit an application to the PACCOM. You may also wish to consider asking one of AmCham’s member legal services firms to help you with the paperwork of the application and regular reports. Click here for a list and contact points of AmCham Legal Services firms.

Additional Background

According to a conference on NGO activities in Vietnam,

NGOs have donated more than US$ 700 million to more than 16,000 projects in Viet Nam, according to preliminary statistics.

Their aid has been increasing in the last few years, to $80 million annually, and is set to reach $100 million this year.

Viet Nam has ties with 514 NGOs in 2003 compared to 183 in 1992.

Key organizations include:
- VN Union of Friendship Organisations
- VN Committee for Foreign NGO Affairs chairman
- VN Union of Friendship Organisations – NGO Resource Centre

Vietnam : History of Philanthropy

2007-01-17T07:05:00.000-08:00

Source: Asian Philanthropy

Most people in Vietnam admire and follow Buddhist and Confucian traditions both of which encourage spending money, material, and time for others cause. In addition, the nature dependent agricultural activities (still the main source of income of most people in Vietnam), and the endless wars over the years have inculcated community feelings and the sense of mutual support among the people. These traditions are promoted and highlighted in folk literature, and reflected in many ancient proverbs, such as 'Red crepe cloth covers the glass', 'People in the same country should have pity on each other' or 'The healthy leaf covers the torn' (Vu Ngoc Phan, 1992).

Over centuries, Vietnamese people have survived wars and hungers through the tradition of united efforts and mutual support. These individual and community efforts were transformed in formal non-state and philanthropic organisations in the form of phuong- informal organisations of village people involved in the same handicraft or small manufacturing. Members of the phuongs committed to help each other in the production of goods, for example to provide technical assistance or to give loan to each other. They were also committed to protect the trade's secret, to keep common price of the products, etc.

Besides the phuongs, in traditional Vietnamese society there were hoi- associations of people with the same hobby, the same interest or the same age or strata. People grouped in hoi used to support each other beyond the specific purpose of the groups existence- in social supports in times of needs.

There were also several forms of mutual financial supporting organisations called ho. People in one ho used to contribute money or rice and receive, in their turn, the total amount contributed by all members of the ho. The primary purpose of a ho was to help its members accumulate a large quantity of rice or sum of money for special family events, for example, house building or repairing, children's wedding, birthday celebration of old parents or parents' death anniversary, etc. The members of a ho used to support each other in the utilisation of the specific fund received from the group fund. Thus one person's house building or repairing activity, or social events used to be supported by volunteer labours of the others in the ho and outside the hos.

Over the years, the kings and rulers of the area undertook measures to encourage philanthropy among Vietnamese people. It is widely believed that the King Le Thanh Tong (1460-1497) reduced the paddy tax on well-to-do families who contributed to the local fund. The taxpayers thus, being supported by the government, created compassion funds in the 15th century. During the Nguyen dynasty (from 17th to 20th centuries), compassion funds became an important tool for tackling crop failure and consequent famine (Thanh and Hoa, 1999). These compassion funds were preserved after the August 1945 Revolution.

During the colonial period (from 1858 to 1945), many anti-feudal-colonialist government associations were formed. Most members of the Reform Association were intellectuals or social activists and mainly from urban areas. The financial resources of the Association came mainly from member’s contributions and from wealthy families who disliked and did not want to accept colonial government.

After the August 1945 Revolution, these mass organisations continued to function and be supported by the organisers and sympathisers. The 1957 Association Law and the Decree 258/TTg regulated the formation and functioning of the third sector organisations in Vietnam, but people continued their giving and volunteering traditions in informal groups and community organisations any way.

References:

Nguyen Van Thanh, Dinh Duy Hoa. 1999. ‘Vietnam’ in Thomas Silk (ed.) Philanthropy and Law in Asia- A Comparative Study of the Nonprofit Legal System in Ten Asia Pacific Societies. Jossey-Bass Publisher: San Francisco.

Thanh N V and D D Hoa. 1999. ‘Vietnam’. In Thomas Silk (ed.) Philanthropy and Law in Asia- A Comparative Study of the Nonprofit Legal System in Ten Asia Pacific Societies. Jossey-Bass Publisher: San Francisco.

Tran Ngoc Them.1997. Basis of Vietnamese Culture. Education Publishing House.

Vietnam : Philanthropy Overview

2007-01-17T07:01:00.000-08:00

Source: Asian Philanthropy
Note: The information in this article has not been updated since published.

In a country where farming, the main source of living, depends on the caprice of nature, and where endless wars have been fought against foreign invaders, the Vietnamese people since time immemorial have been fully aware that only mutual support could help them survive hunger and disasters brought by the nature and wars. This tradition has been reflected in many ancient proverbs, such as 'Red crepe cloth covers the glass', 'People in the same country should have pity on each other' or 'The healthy leaf covers the torn' (Vu Ngoc Phan, 1992).

These proverbs are used as slogans for mobilizing giving. Another saying 'Better to give someone a piece of food when he is hungry than to give him a box of food when he is full', which emphasizes the importance of urgent support, is also used in case of collecting givings for people in disaster affected areas.

No reliable data is available about people’s giving practices, but the evidence from different sources suggests that the people’s involvement in giving and volunteering has increased in the last decade. This is due to programs aimed at promoting awareness of philanthropy. Another factor also may have influenced people's attitude towards the government and non-government sector. During the period of centrally-planned economy, government subsidy was almost the only channel of life resources, the role of the third sector and other agencies of civil society was not significant. In the recent past, this subsidy has been removed and households have become independent production units, thus non-government agencies and social organisations play an important role in the life of individuals and community. The people’s attitude towards giving and volunteering has changed due to the realization that their contribution strengthen this sector of society.

A major part of philanthropic activities in Vietnam nowadays is coordinated by the Vietnam Fatherland Front and social organisations under its umbrella like Vietnam Women Union, Vietnam Youth Union, Vietnam Red Cross or Vietnam General Labour Federation etc. Givings of kind or cash are mobilized and distributed through two major channels.

The first channel of mobilization and distribution of gifts are funds or foundations. The above-mentioned social organisations establish funds/foundations to collect donations and then distribute these to poor people or disaster affected people. As of July 2001, about 200 funds have been established in the country- mainly under different associations; few by individuals. The majority of them are for charitable purpose. The Compassion Fund of the Women’s Union has been set up in many provinces, districts and communes. The Vietnam Red Cross has funds for supporting victims of 'agent orange' in Vietnam, Fund for Humanity and Charity. The Fatherland Front has the Fund for Poor People. As of November 2001, after one year of its establishment, the Fund for Poor People under the Fatherland Front of Ho Chi Minh City collected almost 16 billion Vietnam Dongs, equivalent to US$1.6 million. This money has been used to build 671 houses for poor families, to make 1500 grants for poor students, to give 421 bicycles to students of poor families (Nhan Dan Newspaper, 23 November 2001)

The other channel is direct collection and distribution of donations organized by social organisations as regular or emergency activities. The Women Union or Labour Federation organize a day or launch a week of collection money, clothes or food in different workplaces or communities. For example responding to the call of the VFLF to support people affected by the typhoon in Central High Land in 1998, in two months, people in the country and Vietnamese living overseas have contributed a total of VND100 billion (US$800,000) and ten tons of clothes and blankets, books, medicines, etc. for the affected areas.

Volunteer activities to support affected people are mainly carried out by the Youth Union, Youth Association or Red Cross. Teams of young volunteer are sent to areas of flooding or draught to rescue victims or to provide them with primary assistance, etc.

Many other types of philanthropic activities have been organized under coordination of social organisations. In 1997, the Vietnam Fatherland Front launched the campaign 'Repaying gratitude' to war veterans who were seriously injured and the families of those who sacrificed their life for the country. In two years, 100,000 houses (VND100 billion) were built, 268,000 saving books valued from VND100,000 to VND500,000 were given to the families or individuals. The Repay Gratitude Fund has been set up with VND122 billion (VFLF, 1999.

Another type of philanthropic activity is to establish centres to support disadvantaged people including people with disabilities and the orphans etc. In the last decade, hundreds of such centres have been established under management of the social organisations and individuals or groups of individuals (GCOP, 2000).

Religious groups also undertake volunteer work for the disadvantaged people. Many centres have been set up by religious groups and supported by paid and volunteer work to provide care for people with leprosy, people living with AIDS, seriously handicapped children or elderly, etc.

References:

Government Committee for Organisation and Personnel. 2001. 'The issues emerging in the process of revising the Association Law'. Paper presented in the Workshop on subjects and scope of revision of Association Law, 26-27 July. Ha Noi.

Nhan Dan Newspaper, 23 November 2001. '15 billion Dongs for poor people'. (in Vietnamese)

Vietnam Fatherland Front. 1999. People united to build up a new life in community. National Political Publishing House: Ha Noi (Vietnamese)

Vu Ngoc Phan. 1992. Proverbs, Saying and Folklore of Vietnam. Association of Research and Teaching Literature: Ho Chi Minh City. (Vietnamese)

Vietnam needs $247 milion to assist poor ethnic minorities

2007-01-14T01:59:00.000-08:00

Source: Vietnam Financial Times

Nearly VND4 trillion ($247 million) will be needed to help poor ethnic minorities in Vietnam in the coming time under the Government’s Hunger Elimination and Poverty Reduction Program 134, the Committee for Ethnic Minorities reported at a review meeting.

Of the total capital, over VND 1.65 trillion ($104 million) will be spent for building and upgrading houses, VND13.2 billion ($830,186) for providing housing land, and around VND 1.85 trillion ($115.62) for facilitating concentrated water supply works.

At present, Vietnam has some 476,000 ethnic minority households under the program with 333,000 among those requiring housing assistance, 237,000 asking help for production land and 84,000 in need of housing land. Meanwhile about 281,000 others are facing difficulties accessing clean water.

Two years after program implementation, some provinces have helped more than half of the minorities repair houses and granted 14,175ha of cultivation land for 33,600 households.

Vietnam plans $200 million for Central Highlands’ education development in 2007

2007-01-14T01:57:00.000-08:00

Source: Vietnam News Agency

An amount of more than VND3.2 trillion (roughly $200 million) will be earmarked to further develop education in Central Highlands provinces in 2007, according to the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET).

The capital, which will gradually increase to nearly VND5.6 trillion ($350 million) by 2010, will focus on comprehensively improving the quality of general education and vocational training, and helping local schools gradually meet national education standards.

The ministry will continue developing the scale and network of schools at all levels and areas, focusing on consolidating and improving education quality of ethnic boarding-schools in an attempt to prompt all local children of schooling age to go to school, thus helping the region reach its target of making basic secondary education universal by 2010. The teaching of ethnic minority languages will also be gradually implemented at local schools.

The investment will also prioritize developing higher education in the region, focusing on education, healthcare, culture and art, agriculture and forestry, industry and construction, as well as expanding the network of vocational training schools and community-based colleges.

Additionally, the government will strive to encourage investment from all sources, both local and international, to implement a number of credit projects for infrastructure building and for training teaching staff.

During the 2001-05 period, the region recorded a relatively high annual growth rate of enrollment in secondary to higher education classes in comparison with the national average. The number of local pupils enrolling annually in junior and senior secondary schools, and colleges, rose 6.62%, 12% and 1.6%, respectively.

Notably, nearly 74,500 Central Highlanders have been provided with vocational training, helping to increase the number of trained workers in the region to 11.3% in 2005 from 8.9%, five years ago.