"The silkworms allow me to produce sufficient silk yarn for the family weaving activities,” says Mrs. Kieu, who grows her mulberry trees on a 600 square meter plot along the riverbank. Like many Vietnamese farmers, Lang Thi Kieu, a widow who lives with her two sons and daughter-in-law, struggles to make ends meet. Farming doesn’t produce enough to support her family, so she supplements her income with weaving - but the silk she needs to make her crafts is expensive.

Now Mrs. Kieu is raising her own silkworms as part of the UN Joint Programme “Green production and trade to increase income and employment opportunities for the rural poor”. This UN Joint Programme targets about 4,800 farming and craft-producing households in four northern provinces of Viet Nam, including 1,400 beneficiaries from disadvantaged ethnic minority groups.

Read more...

A face-to-face interview taking place in Dak Lak province in the Ede minority language, with the support of an interpreter June 2012 – With corruption a systemic problem in Viet Nam, a first-of-a-kind survey has asked people across the country what their experiences are of governance and public administration in the area they live.

The UNDP-supported Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) is the largest-ever survey of its kind carried out in Viet Nam. For the 2011 index, more than 13,500 citizens were interviewed and asked about their experiences of and levels of satisfaction with provincial and local authority performance on governance and public administration reform.
“As incomes rise in Viet Nam and citizens are becoming more educated and healthier, they are also expecting and demanding better services from the government,” says Jairo Acuna-Alfaro, UNDP policy advisor and part of PAPI team.  

Yet reviews of governance and public administration reform are often ‘self-assessed’ and the actual users of public services have few opportunities to voice their opinions.

Read more...

Staff from the Legal Consultation Center visited communes affected by the irrigation project several times to provide citizens with information on their property rights June 2012 – Mr Hoang Van Khoa and Mrs Ung Duoc Lan live in Phan Lam, a mountainous commune in Bac Binh district, in the southeastern province of Binh Thuan in Viet Nam. In 2008, they lost their seven hectares of land which was to be used for a reservoir basin for an irrigation project. As a result, they were deprived of the income they earned from growing cashew nuts.

“All our farm land was reclaimed but we did not know how much compensation we would receive, so we were not able to plan for the future,” Khoa explains. “We were worried that we would not have any land for farming.”

Khoa and Lan started farming in Phan Lam back in 1996. They did not have a house of their own then. Two of their four children had to drop out of school because of a lack of money. Their third child was born with congenital heart defects, so they had to spend money on her treatment. However, the couple learnt how to plant cashews and they were soon able to harvest 3.5 tons of cashew nuts per year. This earned them about 120 million dong (approximately 5,700 US dollars) every year, and they built their house just before the land was reclaimed.

Read more...

Ha Noi, 16 May 2012 - One third of married women in Viet Nam have suffered domestic violence, according to a national study by the General Statistics Office of Viet Nam and United Nations. Recognizing that police officers are in the frontline in the justice system's battle to prevent and protect against domestic violence, UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and Vietnamese experts are developing a domestic violence prevention training module for police to be taught at the national People Police Academy of Viet Nam.

"Teaching about domestic violence at police training institutions is an important step to protecting victims effectively,” says Mark Lalonde, an international police training expert who supported the development of the UNODC Handbook on effective police response to violence against women. "A strong response to violence against women is a sign of a strong country, one that respects the rights of its citizens to live a life free of violence."

Read more...

Ha Long city, Quang Ninh Province, Viet Nam, October 2011— According to the 2009 Population and Housing Census, young people aged between 10 to 24 years account for nearly 30 percent of the population. Young people in Viet Nam are the most mobile group, as many leave home forfurther studies, while others migrate seasonally or permanently for better job opportunities. Sexual and reproductive health norms and behavior are changing rapidly among young people in Viet Nam. One-third of young people still face barriers when trying to access reproductive health information or services they require and deserve.

Reaching youth through marriage registration ceremonies

 - Dear honored guests, we are gathered here today to witness the giving and receiving of the
marriage vows.
- Do you take this woman as your wedded wife?
- Yes, I do.
- Do you take this man as your wedded husband?
- Yes, I do.
- I now pronounce you husband and wife. Before signing your marriage certificate, I would like to invite you to a counseling session on sexual and reproductive health skills and knowledge.

Read more...