Latest Foreign Assistance Briefs

- The Japanese government will grant $120,000 to a project on expanding a vocational training center for disabled people in Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Giang. The grant is part of an agreement signed in Hanoi on Jan 31 to build more classrooms and buy equipment to create a better environment for people with disabilities, orphans and Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin victims in province, said Vu Thi Tra Giang, the center’s director. The project is expected to create more spacious facilities for students and enhance the friendship and mutual understanding between Vietnam and Japan. On Jan 30, Japan signed an aid agreement worth $243,000 to upgrade two primary schools in the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Bac Giang. These schools are located in the areas where poor households make up 15%-32% of the population. (cpv.org.vn Jan 31)
- As many as 550 wheelchairs, funded by the U.S.’ Free Wheelchair Mission (FWM), were provided for people with disabilities in 9 northern provinces in Hanoi on January 28. Provinces receiving wheelchairs includes Ninh Binh, Vinh Phuc, Hoa Binh, Son La, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Thai Binh, Thanh Hoa and Ha Nam. The wheelchairs are presented by the US’ Humanitarian Services For Children of Vietnam (HSCV) in co-ordination with the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO). Addressing the presentation ceremony, HSCV President Chuck de Vevet said that FWM, through non-governmental organizations operating in Vietnam, has worked with Vietnamese partners to present thousands of wheelchairs to the disabled, helping them integrate into the community. On this occasion, VUFO President Vu Xuan Hong granted a certificate of merit to HSCV for its contribution to Vietnam’s poverty reduction and sustainable development. (Vietnamplus.vn Jan 29)
-  The President of Japan’s Nippon Foundation, Yohei Sasakawa, has affirmed that his organization will continue to assist people with disabilities and disadvantaged people in Vietnam. At a reception hosted by Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan in Hanoi on January 28, Sasakawa thanked Vietnam’s relevant ministries, branches and agencies for their co-operation in implementing its projects in the country. In reply, Vice President Doan described Sasakawa’s visit as a symbol of the two countries’ people-to-people relations. The foundation has provided almost $28 million to assist disadvantaged people in Vietnam since 1992, she noted. Vice President Doan said she hoped it will continue helping Vietnamese people with disabilities through rehabilitation, vocational training, job placements and loans, and cooperate with the country to perfect its legal framework and social welfare policy. The Nippon Foundation is active in more than 100 countries. In Vietnam, it has built over 100 primary schools in the Central Highlands, provided wheelchairs and more than 50,000 artificial limbs. (Nhan Dan –The People Jan 29)
- The Big C supermarket chain has co-operated with Unilever Viet Nam to implement a series of community activities as part of a program to help poor families celebrate the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday. Under the program, which runs from January 18 to February 6, around 2,100 gifts with a total value VND630 million ($30,200) will be given to poor households in 21 localities where Big C supermarkets are located, including HCM City, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Can Tho, Ha Noi, and Hai Duong. (Vietnam News Jan 31)
- A representative from Coca-Cola Vietnam hands over Tet gifts to needy people as part of charity program ‘Happy Tet with Coca-Cola’ in conjunction with the Labor Federations of Lien Chieu District in Danang City and Thuong Tin District in Hanoi, and Vietnamese Fatherland Front of Thu Duc District in HCMC. (thesaigontimes.vn Jan 29)
- Nguyen Hai, director/business operation management HCM City of Prudential Vietnam, hands out medical insurance cards to 300 poor people in District 8 on Saturday, as part of a program providing 1,200 medical insurance cards worth VND340 million for needy people in HCMC’s outlying districts. (thesaigontimes.vn Jan 29)