Workshop discusses disasters

The Viet Nam Red Cross Society and the Norwegian Red Cross held a workshop on reducing the risk of disasters in the central province of Phu Yen today, Sept 25.

The two-day event is being attended by representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Education and Training, Phu Yen Province agencies, the National Red Cross Societies of China, Norway and Viet Nam, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as well as other organisations in Viet Nam.

Financial support of US$1.8 million from Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Viet Nam and Norway's Red Cross groups have funded the project in 32 communes in the provinces of Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Lao Cai.

Ragnhild Dybdahl, deputy head of the Royal Norwegian Embassy, told the workshop that disaster risk reduction was a main target of Norwegian co-operation with Viet Nam.

During the three-year time frame for the project, more than 100,000 people have benefited from activities, including 697 local government officials and staff, 482 teachers and more than 18,000 primary school children.

For the next 30 years, Viet Nam is considered one of the 30 countries most vulnerable to disasters and climate change.

According to the Climate Change scenario, by 2100 the sea will have risen a metre, directly affecting 10.8 per cent of the Vietnamese population.

Hanoi to host national conference on domestic violence

A national conference on domestic violence prevention and control will take place in Hanoi from September 27-29 to discuss solutions for bringing the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control to life.

The conference aims to systemize barriers against law enforcement, share lessons of experience from effective project models of domestic violence prevention and control, and promote gender equality, and men’s role in combating family violence.

The focus of discussion will be on models of domestic violence prevention and control, policies and mechanism for law enforcement, consultancy services and use of media in this field.

The event will be held by the Centre for Creative Initiatives in Health and Population (CCIHP), the Centre for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender- Family - Women and Adolescents (CSAGA) and Gender and Community Development Network (Gencomnet).

VN-Korean AO victims on epic bike trip

Two Vietnamese and four South Korean Agent Orange/Dioxin victims will join in a trans-Viet Nam cycling tour from November 1-25.

The 20-member group will start the ride in HCM City and wind through 1,700 kilometres to Ha Noi.

The event is to raise awareness and support for AO victims.

During the cycling, participants, which includes artists, sportsmen and AO victims, will meet up with local associations for AO victims.

The team is expected to arrive in central Da Nang City on November 15.

As many as 4.8 million Vietnamese were directly exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides during the Viet Nam War.

Watch for deadly amoeba

The Ministry of Health has ordered city and provincial preventive healthcare centres to take steps to stop a disease caused by brain-eating amoeba (Naegleri Fowleri).

This follows two new cases of the disease, including the first fatality, a 25-year-old man from the southern province of Phu Yen. The other was a six- year-old boy from HCM City.

The ministry has asked authorities to raise public awareness on ways to prevent the disease.

Hospitals and healthcare centres have been asked to try and diagnose the disease quickly so patients have a better chance of being cured.

The brain-eating amoeba is said to live in freshwater lakes, rivers and reservoirs in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The amoeba enters human body via the nose and causes meningitis and encephalitis.

Children need support, social policies to develop

Policy-makers in East Asia and the Pacific must stabilise finances and create new social policies in order to protect children and invest in their futures, a conference heard yesterday.

Speaking at the meeting, Daniel Toole, UNICEF's Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, said that economic growth in the region during the past two decades had helped millions of people out of poverty, reduced child mortality and brought primary education to almost all children.

However, the success had also created gaps between the rich and the poor, he said, leaving many migrants, ethnic minorities and those living in rural areas without access to social services such as health care and education.

"This leads to a cost to children, to families, to society and to nations. Economic development and social development are inseparable," he said.

In East Asia and the Pacific, on average, one in three newborns died due to a malnourished mother. About 28 per cent of the total of under five years old suffered from malnourishment.

Toole said that more finance was needed to solve the problem. Any government should be able to make the assurance that children, no matter where they are born, have the right to survival, development, care, respect and education, he said.

Deputy Minister of Finance Truong Chi Trung admitted that the global economic crisis had affected social policies to protect children.

He said Viet Nam has paid special attention to these social policies, but the task of protecting children from crisis and reducing the disparities in wealth remains incomplete.

Trung said the three-day conference would be a chance for representatives to exchange knowledge and experience in improving investment to bring a better future to children.

The conference was jointly held by the UNICEF and the Ministry of Finance, with the participation of Governmental representatives from 17 countries in the region.

Over VND2.5 billion raised for disadvantaged children

More than VND2.5 billion was raised for disadvantaged children during an arts performance programme in Hanoi on Sept. 23.

The money will be used to finance heart surgery for poor kids, construction of houses of gratitude and provision of savings accounts for families of revolutionary martyrs.

In addition, scholarships and gifts will be provided to Agent Orange/dioxin victims and children in 12 provinces across the country.

The event is held on the occasion of the Lunar Mid-Autumn Festival every year.

Stranded fishermen left reeling after ordeal

A stranded boat with seven fishermen on board reached the shore in central Quang Ngai Province's Binh Son District yesterday, Sept 24, after more than a week of assistance from another ship.

The vessel, PY 90045TS, from the central province of Phu Yen became isolated while fishing for tuna near Truong Sa Archipelago on September 14. All the crew and boat were then rescued by sea border guards and taken to Song Tu Tay, one of the islands of Truong Sa.

A ship in Quang Ngai voluntarily set sail last Friday to bring the fishermen back to the mainland. All the men received health check-ups at a local hospital before returning home in Phu Yen.

Child poverty reduction tops regional conference’s agenda

An Asia-Pacific conference on reducing child poverty and disparities opened in Hanoi on September 24.

The three-day event, organized by The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Finance, is being attended by representatives from 17 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Participants will discuss the links between public finance and social policy, as well as solutions for developing human resources by improving public health care and preventing child abuse.

They hope to devise measures to protect children from the impact of the economic recession, address healthcare and nutritious issues, create financial sources for social development, and integrate children’s needs into policy-making and budget planning.

The delegates also exchanged opinions and shared experiences in social policy for children, aiming to effectively protect children and reduce disparities.

 Fresh approach to fruit regulation

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has splashed out US$1.5 million on three machines designed to monitor pesticide levels on fruit in an attempt to enhance food safety on imports.

Director of MARD's Plant Protection Department Nguyen Xuan Hong said authorities would sample up to 30 per cent of goods batches suspected to have food safety issues. Contaminated batches will be re-exported, he added.

As part of the crackdown, Hong revealed that repeat violations could lead to a temporary ban on imports from the producing zone and export company.

Ethnic women accept childcare services

The image of ethnic women carrying their babies on their backs while doing farmwork or collecting firewood is one of the main visuals associated with Viet Nam's northern mountainous provinces, such as Bac Kan.

It harks back to a time when children from ethnic minority groups in remote mountainous areas did not go to school. Instead, youngsters slept soundly on their mothers' backs while the older children played in front of their houses or in the rice fields.

However, 24-year-old mother Hua Thi Bong, of Duong Son Commune, Bac Kan Province's Na Ri District, said that fewer and fewer local children accompanied their parents to work nowadays.

"We send our children to school so that they can learn many useful things," she said.

"My son likes his school, friends and teachers," Bong said, adding that he never had any problem getting up and going to school on time in the morning, and he even remembered to wash his hands before meals.

The mother said she was happy to see her son sing songs and talk about his school life during family gatherings at home.

Since Bong's son started school last year, she has grown accustomed to playing with him in the yard of his pre-school every morning before starting her workday.

This requires them to leave home a little bit earlier, around 6a.m. To get to the school, in the centre of the commune, Bong has to ride her motorbike for half an hour, traversing a 10-km path through the forest. But as the young Nung mother said, this brought joy into her day.

Duong Son Pre-school principal Dinh Thi Bay said that local people, mostly from the ethnic groups of Tay, Nung and Dao, were now more aware of the need to send their children to school.

Previously, at the beginning of the school year, teachers came to households to encourage parents to send their children to school. However, in the last few years, parents voluntarily went to the school to register their children, she said.

This was a big change for the school, she said, noting that it was based in one of the most disadvantaged communes in the mountainous district, about 300km away from Ha Noi.

The pre-school used to share classes and a teachers' dorm with the local primary school until last year, when a new pre-school was built.

Surrounded by mountains, terraced fields and a winding pathway, the concrete Son Duong Pre-school impresses people with its colourful walls, cartoon pictures, a large front yard with swings and a slide, and, above all, its five well-furnished classrooms.

For years local children dreamed of having such a nice school, Bong said, recalling her poor childhood, when there was no pre-school to attend.

Life has changed significantly since Bong was a child. Now, as a mother, Bong feels luckier than the former generation, as she receives support from others besides her own parents.

Through civil societies like Women Association and Youth Union, parents like Bong were taught how to take care of their children and given access to healthcare services, she said.

Distance seems to pose the biggest challenge to people in the commune, which spans an area of nearly 3,800ha of mostly hills and mountains.

There, houses are scattered about 2-3km away from each other, and many are separated by springs.

Thus, the community houses, although they are only simple buildings in the heart of each hamlet with a few benches, a notice board, a table and a bulb, have become fixtures in local residents' lives.

"Gathering at community houses after work, we just sit around chatting, sharing our experiences with farming and child rearing," Bong said

However, the most impressive item in the community houses is full bookshelves for children.

On Sunday mornings, the houses are opened for children to play and read.

Luan Thi Chanh, a 9th grader, said that she usually took her two younger brothers and sister to the community house on Sunday mornings because they could find many books and toys there.

"Older sisters and brothers from Youth Union also teach us to sing and dance and tell us about children's rights and obligations - not only through vivid stories and pictures but also by making us become actors/actresses to deal with different situations," Chanh said.

For example, children had the right to go to school, go to the healthcare centre when they get ill, and play away from springs, rivers and burning stoves, she said.

"If only we had a place to play badminton and football," Chanh said, adding that they usually made use of the terraced fields after harvest time to play football.

Nine-year-old Lo Thi Hong Gam said that reading books helped her learn about people and the world outside.

To reach the community houses, many of the children have to walk, climb hills or cross a spring for an hour, but they said this did not bother them because they were so happy to go.

Duong Son Commune People's Committee vice chairman Trieu Van Chi said that awareness of proper child care and protection had been improving among local people.

Efforts have been made to make changes in their attitude as well as improve facilities, he said.

However, as a poor commune, Duong Son Commune faced many difficulties, and could use more support from the Government and other organisations.

ChildFund Australia's International Programme director Mark McPeak said that helping people and children understand children's rights was one way to help them overcome poverty.

"Children are poor because they lack access to important things like healthcare and education, their parents lack income and they feel their voices have less power and less influence in society," he said.

If they knew about their rights, they could speak out, he said.

Since 2009, ChildFund in Viet Nam has tried to support local communities, including Duong Son Commune, to understand child rights, empower children to speak out and help local authorities build a community fit for children.

VNN/VOV/VNS