Plan Vietnam Annual Progress Report 2009

A YEAR IN

VIETN09AM SUMMARY REPORT

dia

CHINA

MYANMAR

3

Thai Nguyen

Phu Tho LAOS

GOOD REASONS why Plan works in Vietnam

Ha Giang

Hanoi

Bac Giang Hai Phong

Hanoi

• One in six children under the age of three suffers from malnutrition

Quang Binh Quang Tri THAILAND

Kon Tum

Hue Da Nang Quang Ngai

• 30 per cent of families have no sustainable income, facing food shortages PHILIPPINES throughout the year

CAMBODIA

Nha Trang

• A third of school aged children are not enrolled in primary school

Ho Chi Minh City

VIETNAM Country Office Operation Support Office Programme Unit

Our priorities in Vietnam

PALAU

• Working to improve the health of children and communities BRUNEI

• Supporting care and development for nursery-age children

MALAYSIA MALAYSIA

• Helping to improve basic education • Working for more sustainable livelihoods for the poor • Protecting children from abuse

INDONESIA INDONESIA

PAPUA NEW GUINEA EAST TIMOR

Children at a Sustainable Livelihoods class

VIETNAM FACTS Capital: Hanoi Population: 86.1 million Language: Vietnamese Climate: Vietnam’s climate varies considerably from the north to the south.

The average temperature is generally higher in the plains than in the mountains and plateaus and in the south than in the north.

Temperatures in the southern

plains (Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta) vary less, ranging between 21°C and 28 °C. The seasons in the mountains and plateaus and in the north are much more dramatic - temperatures may vary from 5 °C in December and January to 37 °C in July and August.

Economy: Despite recent economic growth Vietnam is still considered a poor

country and is ranked low against countries in the region in several economic indicators. As a result of several land reform measures, Vietnam is now the largest producer of cashew nuts with a one-third global share and second largest rice exporter in the world after Thailand.

Besides rice, key exports are coffee, tea, rubber, and fishery products. Vietnam’s chief trading partners include

China, Japan, Australia, ASEAN countries, the U.S. and Western European countries.

Mother and child at a Child Centred Community Health centre.

A YEAR IN

VIETNAM 09 SUMMARY REPORT

FOCUS ON: SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS Our first aim is to give households the ability to cope with economic shocks, such as the loss of a breadwinner or a natural disaster.

Secondly, we aim to improve farming methods and output, and give families a wider range of ways to make money.

The program also aims to provide skills and opportunities to disadvantaged young people, particularly from poor migrant families.

A STEP ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

H

Children learn about HIV/AIDS at a child rights workshop.

The Bigger Picture

Plan is working with children, families and whole communities to address the problems that Vietnam faces. This report can only tell a small part of that story. As a further insight, last year we also: • Held 2,524 weekly nutrition talks where demonstration meals were prepared.

Parents, local authorities and media agencies attended • Collected 1,800 blankets and six tonnes of clothes for children in Ha Giang, which suffered its most severe winter in 48 years • Fitted 24 schools with wells, water tanks, toilets and safe playgrounds • Trained 10,000 farmers on ways to raise their incomes.

Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these positive results. So on behalf of the communities, partner organisations, and most of all the children we work with – thank you!

“I was like an animal,” she told us.

“Not thinking, just doing” To learn more about Plan’s work in Vietnam visit plan.org.au/ourwork/asia/vietnam

Produced for Vietnam by the Australian National Office.

oang comes from a poor family 60 miles from Hanoi. She finished secondary school, and came to the capital to look for a job which could support her family.

However, she found herself working in a stone factory as a buffer, rubbing stone slabs to make them shine. Hoang worked for 20 hours a day, starting at 6 am and finishing at 2 am. The buffing made her hands sore and bloody, and she earned just 500,000 Vietnamese dong (£15) a month. “I was like an animal,” she told us. “Not thinking, just doing.” She was so unhappy that she was not able to sleep, even for the few hours afforded to her.

Far from her family, she spent the early mornings crying alone.

“I had no hope for the future. I was stuck in a trap, and I thought the older I got the less opportunities I would have.” Hoang didn’t have enough money to pay for vocational training, and thought free courses didn’t exist, but one day in 2007, she saw an advert for the Plan-supported Livelihood Advancement Business School (known as LABS) in a student newspaper.

Plan Vietnam started LABS in 2004. The aim was to address high levels of unemployment among young people in impoverished areas. Currently operating in three training centres in the capital Hanoi, as well as Hue and Danang, further south, LABS recruits and trains disadvantaged young people aged 17 to 25 for jobs which are in demand in the labour market. Over a three to four month period, the programme provides students with technical skills, life skills and English language training, and then finds graduates job opportunities.

“LABS is like a fishing rod. It didn’t give me a fish – by which I mean a handout – but the tools I needed to lead a healthy, happy and productive life, independently”

A fishing rod Hoang’s first impression of LABS was how kindhearted, gentle and professional the facilitators were. She enrolled in an office administration and IT course, and soon became one of the school’s most dedicated and hardworking students.

Her determination paid off – after she graduated, Hoang was swiftly employed by the Vietnamese company, Viet Fast. Here, her monthly salary was 1.8 million dong (almost four times what she earned as a stone buffer). She was promoted twice, and has since left the company for a Sales Co-ordinator role at Phu Thai, Vietnam’s leading distribution and investment company. She earns 3 million dong a month, and loves her job. “LABS is like a fishing rod,” she says. “It didn’t give me a fish – by which I mean a handout – but the tools I needed to lead a healthy, happy and productive life, independently.”

Helping employers too Hoang is one of the 2,766 young people who have attended LABS since it started four years ago.

As well as giving students the chance to break free from the effects of poverty, LABS also helps employers by researching which professions are understaffed. Currently, training is concentrated in IT, customer relations, marketing and hospitality, but this will change if the market demands it.

Representatives of businesses who employed LABS students have praised their hard work, dedication, honesty, loyalty and teamwork. “LABS is a great initiative to support the poor, I am sure the industry will be keen to support it,” says Mr Nguyen Ngoc Son, Human Resource Manager at Sunway Hotels, Hanoi.

Since the young people helped by LABS will be the parents of tomorrow, the project will have a long-term impact on the wellbeing of Vietnamese children.

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy purposes.

plan.org.au