More support needed in fight against HIV/AIDS

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on the international community to continue supporting Viet Nam in its efforts to effectively combat HIV/AIDS despite a decrease in available funding.

Photo: VNA

The Government official met in Ha Noi yesterday, Dec 10, with groups of donors who have supported the country's fight against HIV/AIDS, drugs and prostitution.

The donors' delegation was led by United Nations Resident Co-ordinator Pratibha Mehta, co-chair of the Ambassadors/UN Heads of Agency Informal Co-ordination Group on HIV/AIDS.

Phuc applauded their technical and financial support, particularly the implementation of harm reduction programmes and drug trafficking control.

Mehta praised the efforts of the Vietnamese Government to ensure the sustainability of the national response to HIV/AIDS, and highly commended the country for having increased the state budget allocation for HIV/AIDS AIDS threefold over the last five years. She also praised the decision to approve a National Target Programme on HIV that saw a 20 per cent increase this year in the amount of the state budget.

Vietnam, India strengthen IT cooperation

A conference was held in Hanoi on December 10 to discuss how to boost cooperation between Vietnam and India in the field of information technology.

The event was jointly held by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Indian Embassy in Vietnam.
The organisers hoped the event will be a chance for IT businesses of both countries to meet and establish links as well as to find business partners.

Over the years, Vietnam and India have implemented several cooperative projects in the field. Recently, India has helped set up a US$ 2 million human resources centre at the Hanoi Department of Information and Communications.

India plans to assist establish a super computer centre at the Hanoi University of Technology in the future.

Ireland increases scholarships for Vietnamese students

Ireland will increase scholarships for Vietnamese students to attend master courses in its territory to 40 per year.

The information was released by Irish Minister for Training and Skills Ciaran Cannon T.D. during his meeting with Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan in Hanoi on December 10.

The courses are part of the Irish Aid Development Experience and Sharing (IDEAS) Programme and will cover majors in pharmaceuticals, tourism and hotel management, said Cannon, who is visiting Vietnam from December 9-12.

During the meeting, both sides reviewed the results of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tertiary education cooperation signed by Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training and Irish Department of Education and Skills in November last year. In particular, they evaluated the exchange of experts and lecturers, scholarships for Vietnamese students and the acceleration of bilateral cooperation programmes in information technology and communications, digital training and vocational training.

They also announced the establishment of the Vietnam - Ireland education working group to assists tertiary education cooperation between the two countries. The first group session will be held in 2013.

The same day, a seminar on education exchange between Vietnam and Ireland took place in Hanoi. A similar event is expected to be held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 12.

Train booking system crashes

Scores of customers failed to book railway tickets online for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday on the very first day the service was opened due to persistent overload.

Sai Gon Railway Passenger Transport Company opened online bookings (http://www.vetau.com.vn) at 8am yesterday for train travel during the holiday that runs from February 11.

However, Nguyen Tan Phong, living in District Go Vap's Ward 12, lamented that he could not even access the website.

Phong intended to book four tickets to the northern province of Nam Dinh and had registered his account several days ago. He was ready on the internet at 6am yesterday, but tried in vain to call the site up.

Some of Phong's friends also tried to access the website, but at 10.30am they were still trying.

Sharing Phong's fate, Tran Thanh Truc, a student at HCM City University of Social Sciences and Humanities who wanted to book a ticket to the central city of Da Nang, said she spent the whole morning trying to get onto the website, but the system replied that the website did not exist.

Others went to Sai Gon Railway Station to buy tickets directly, but station employees said they only received bookings on the internet!

A representative of Sai Gon Railway Passenger Transport Company said that from 8am to 11am yesterday too many people tried to access to the website at the same time.

He claimed that the first website ticket was sold successfully at 8.15am yesterday and that by 4.30pm, 4,200 seats had been booked.

During the Tet holiday this year, about 68,000 tickets will be issued online, 20,000 of them round-trip tickets.

Public should have their say in legislation

Public involvement in law making and constitutional processes must be strongly promoted to ensure the needs and aspirations of the people are being met, according to Nicholas Booth, policy advisor on rule of law and access to justice for the United Nations' Development Programme (UNDP) in Viet Nam.

Booth was speaking at a workshop held yesterday in Ha Noi by a network of Vietnamese non-government organisations to mark World Human Rights Day, and his view was shared by many experts in attendance.

Booth said that the Government's decision to allow public consultation on amendments to the Constitution - which will take place in sessions between January and March next year - is an important step in the promotion of public participation in law-making.

He argued that the public must be better educated about the Constitution and its importance in order to create a culture of public participation in governance.

Dr Nguyen Dang Dung, an expert in constitutional law from Ha Noi National University's School of Law said everyone must be aware of their own legal rights in order to protect themselves.

Dr. Hoang Van Nghia from the Institute of Human Rights said that the process of people realising their human rights was gradual but essential, and called for all to work towards this goal.

Experts praised the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration, which was passed last month, as an encouraging step in promoting human rights in ASEAN countries. The declaration was said to serve as the basis for the production of future law-binding conventions.

The theme of this year's International Human Rights Day is "My Voice Counts", indicating the rights of all people to make their voices heard in public life and be included in political decision-making.

VNN/VOV/VNS