Vietnam : Philanthropy Overview

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.

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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)