Close to 4,000 local ethnic minority people in Lo Pang and Kon Thup communes in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai are using clean water and managing, by themselves, the water resource that came up from a JICA- funded project. Meanwhile, dozens of households in the localities are growing pepper trees and 350 others are raising cows to raise their living standards. Implemented from 2009 to 2014, the JICA-funded project is among the 87 ODA-sourced projects worth $160 million that have brought great benefits to local people, mainly ethnic minorities, in Gia Lai. The projects, with various sponsors, like the Asia Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Global Fund, mainly target the development of agriculture, rural areas, forestry, electricity, roads, schools, and healthcare. This year, three projects on children, high school education and inter-communal transport with funding from UNICEF, ADB and JICA are underway in the locality. (vietnamplus.vn Aug 4)
