Latest Foreign Assistance Briefs

- Around 8,000 disadvantaged students from 66 junior and higher schools in 12 provinces have benefited from a $3 million tuition subsidy program in the 2010-13 period. The Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) Education program aimed to encourage students in Thai Binh, Bac Kan, Bac Giang, Phu Tho, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen to reach 12th grade graduation in three years. The World Bank-funded program is expected to develop an educated and skilled work force for Vietnam. (Vietnam News Aug 15)

- Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a project to boost state capacity to manage chemicals and substances for insect killing and increase pasteurization for the health sector in 2012-2013. The project is jointly funded by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) with a total grant of $248,000. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Health have been assigned to complete necessary documents for the implementation of the project. The project is expected to help the country reduce the number of people suffering from diseases spread or caused by insects. (http://baodientu.chinhphu.vn Aug 14)

- More than 10,000 school students in Vietnam’s central highlands province of Kon Tum have been screened for vision problems under an eye care project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Among the students, over 800 with vision problems have received free-of charge eyeglasses, state media reported. Under the project, 13 school children have been diagnosed with complicated eye diseases, including cataract, posterior capsule pacification and ptosis and referred to Ho Chi Minh Eye Hospital for further treatment. The project has not only improved the vision of school children, but also enhanced capacity of the healthcare system by training local health workers in pediatric ophthalmology and providing surgical equipment to the provincial general hospital and Center for Social Disease Prevention and Control. (Phap Luat TP.HCM – HCM City Law Aug 14 p2, Quan Doi Nhan Dan –People’s Army Aug 13)