Foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have provided an estimated $300 million development aid so far this year, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) said at a meeting in Hanoi on Dec 19. The aid has enable Vietnam to solve social issues, improve healthcare and education, and boost environmental protection, said Vice President of VUFO Don Tuan Phong. Currently, five hundred international NGOs are operating in Vietnam, a representative from the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) said at the event to review and recognize the contributions of the NGOs. Marko Lovrekovic, co-managing director of the VUFO-NGO Resource Center, told the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper that the quality of programs run by NGOs is more important than the number of NGOs in Vietnam. “I think Vietnam does not need to increase the number of NGOs. I think they need to help NGOs better coordinate and implement their projects. The biggest issues now are about legislation and policies, and the legal environment,” Lovrekovic said. Over the past decade, the number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supporting Vietnam doubled. The NGOs conducted 28,000 projects with the disbursement value of $2.4 billion. (Tuoi Tre – Youth Dec 20)
