News

On July 30 2018 at the Meeting Hall of the Dien Bien Department of Education and Training, a workshop was conducted to expand the project on “Improving the communication on sexual and reproductive health for high school students in the mountainous areas of Dien Bien province” in 2018.

Participating in the workshop were Mr. Pham Dung, MCNV’s Vietnam Country Director, Mr. Mai Van Tien, Head of the International Cooperation Unit, Department of External Relations, Dien Bien province, Mr. Nguyen Manh Quan, Deputy Director of Dien Bien Department of Education and Training, and representatives of the High School Department, Head Masters and Youth Union’s Secretaries of two boarding schools for ethnic minority students in Dien Bien city and Eastern Dien Bien district.

Mr. Pham Dung, MCNV’s Vietnam Country Director and Mr. Nguyen Manh Quan, Deputy Director of Dien Bien Department of Education and Training were signing into the contract to expand the project.

Mr. Pham Dung, MCNV’s Vietnam Country Director and Mr. Nguyen Manh Quan, Deputy Director of Dien Bien Department of Education and Training were signing into the contract to expand the project.

As in the plan to expand the project, MCNV will support the two boarding schools for ethnic minority students in Dien Bien city and Eastern Dien Bien district with EUR 7,000 to improve the communication on sexual and reproductive health for high school students in the mountainous areas of Dien Bien province in 2018, between July 2018 and October 2018.

The main purpose of the expansion is after the project ends, about 900 students at ages 15 to 19 will be equipped with better knowledge, awareness and behaviors about sexual and reproductive health. At least 60 high school teachers will have better knowledge and skills to communicate and teach their students about this issue.

Mr. Quoc Anh, MCNV’s Program Coordinator explained about the expansion of the project.

(Dien Bien Department of Education and Training)

On August 6, 2018, at the Vietnam People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM), PACCOM’s representatives awarded the working license to MCNV Vietnam. The license will be valid until February 4, 2023.

Last week, after a period of extensive discussions, the Supervisory Board of MCNV and Guus Paardekooper, General Director, have decided to end their collaboration. A difference of opinion on the MCNV policy for the coming years and more specific on its strategy and timing are at the root of this decision.

Since October 2017, MCNV has started to implement the project “Development of Speech and Language Therapy Education in Vietnam”, for 5 years from October 2017 to September 2022. This is a component project under the DISTINCT Project by VietHealth, with fund from USAID. The goal of the Project is to establish a solid foundation for development of an official education system of Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) profession in Vietnam.

The University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh city (UMP) and Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy (DUMTP) participate in this project as implementing partners to MCNV.  Trinh Foundation Australia (TFA) participates in this Project to coordinate participation of Australian SALT lecturers from different Australian universities as a technical consultation partner to MCNV.

In two days of October 2nd and 3rd 2018 in Da Nang, MCNV and Da Nang UMTP co-organized the Workshop “Developing curriculum for a Bachelor of Rehabilitation Techniques with Specialization in Speech and Language Therapy” with technical consultancy from Sydney University from Australia. This is the first activity of cooperation between MCNV and Da Nang UMTP to aim at developing a training curriculum and implementing a regular training course in Bachelor of Rehabilitation with specialization in speech and language therapy.

Participants of the Workshop were national and international specialists, educators, managers from health care education universities and the Ministry of Health.

The objective of the Workshop was to develop a Vietnamese contextualized curriculum for a Bachelor of Rehabilitation Techniques with Specialization in Speech and Language Therapy..

In the Workshop,  a draft of a training framework and curriculum for speech and language therapist at bachelor level was developed and commented. After this Workshop, MCNV and related counterparts will continue working together to finalize the documents and make them available and ready for application in the coming 2019 – 2020 school year in Da Nang UMTP.

Tireless efforts of MCNV and the Centre for Rehabilitation and Social Inclusion for Children with Disabilities in Cao Bang province was presented in the moving and heart-touching 30 minute documentary film “We can go to school”, which was broadcast at the Life Portrait Program, VTV4 Channel.

For full program, please click here.

For program trailer, please click here.

Program with English subtitle, please click here.

After being broadcast, a large number of friends and colleagues called to congratulate MCNV for this meaningful film. Efforts in a decade to support children with disabilities in Cao Bang were finally recorded and presented to the whole public. These are true honour and also responsibility of MCNV’s staff to continue striving for the community-based rehabilitation work in Vietnam.

On March 5, 2018, Hanoi University of Public Health (HUPH) hosted a welcome event for 10 Master of Public Health students newly arrived from the University of Health Sciences in Laos (UHS). The group is the first batch to participate in the dual-degree, two-year MPH programme shared by the two universities, which encompasses studies in both Laos and Vietnam.

On March 19 2018, MCNV cooperated with the Youth Union of the Vinh Linh High School, Quang Tri, to organize a communication session about mental health care, focusing on “Building a good friendship – Saying “no” to school violence”. This was one of the significant activities in the school year 2017 – 2018 in which MCNV, the Department of Education and Training in Quang Tri and Vinh Linh High School committed to implement to raise high school students’ awareness on mental health care in general and school violence prevention in particular.

The communication session was organized in the Monday Talk at Vinh Linh High School with the participation of more than 600 high school students from sixteen classes grades 10 and 12.

Through drama performances and interactive activities, the communication session helped students realize the causes of school violence, including behavioral and emotional disorders. The it brought out possible solutions to limit and stop school violence.

Drama performance played by students of Vinh Linh high school

Between March 12 and 20, 2018, Mr. Guus Paardekooper, MCNV’s General Director, visited Vietnam for networking and resource-mobilization purposes regarding the dragon fruit value chain project.

The People’s Committee of Quang Tri Province in cooperation with MCNV held a meeting to celebrate the 45^th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between the Netherlands and Vietnam (1973-2018) and 50^th anniversary of MCNV (1968-2018).

On March 29, 2018, the partners of the LICM project (Learning about the use of Innovative Communication Methods ) came together in Vientiane for a final review of successes and lessons learnt after a year of joint activities. Coordinated by MCNV, this collaborative effort sought to empower vulnerable youth groups in Laos, providing them with skills and means to advocate more effectively for their specific needs.  Each implementing partner represented a vulnerable youth group with a particular constituency: Proud to Be Us (representing LGBTQI) , the Lao Disabled People’s Association (disabled youth) and Vientiane Youth Centre (minority youth groups).

One of the problems highlighted by this project is that in Laos, the majority of the population (about 60%) is under 25 years old, yet young people rarely have the opportunity to contribute to decisions that are taken about their lives. Practices and policies that could be better informed from more youth participation include those related to the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people, especially young vulnerable people. To obtain more knowledge about specific SRHR issues of different groups of vulnerable youth in Laos and enable vulnerable youth to learn about and advocate for better SRHR, MCNV in partnership with three Lao organizations decided to implement LICM as an action-research project. This allowed LICM to explore the potential of diverse Innovative Communication Methods such as songs, dance, theatre and participatory video for peer-learning, behavior change and advocacy.

Training on Photo Voice carried out by LPDA staff members.

LICM has demonstrated that it is possible to enable the vulnerable youth of Lao PDR to influence SRHR practices and policies in their immediate communities and beyond. Activities focused on improving communications: advocacy workshops, learning  exchanges, photo exhibitions, training in innovative communications methods, advocacy events with peers and policy makers. One of the most creative outputs produced by the LICM project were shadow dramas, which bring to light complex problems of social interaction in an appealing format:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNJxZeWwLEE (Forbidden Love)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGUiy_Iv3xA (Life of Kham)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXYJmTB-jAE&feature=youtu.be (Kam Phaeng Huk)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgUfLr3kHYM&feature=youtu.be (Phouthai)

This project was funded by Voice, an innovative grant facility that supports the most marginalised and discriminated people in ten low- and lower-middle income countries in Africa and Asia. Aiming to amplify and connect thus far unheard voices in efforts to leave no one behind, this initiative is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. LICM also served as co-financing for the MCNV led LEARN Programme (Lao Equity through Policy Analysis and Research Networks) a five year effort to enhance the capabilities of public health institutes in Laos, bringing together a range of partners working in education and health policy for this purpose.