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14^th April 2017, in collaboration with Hai Duong Medical and Technical University (HMTU), MCNV organized a workshop on introduction of Occupational Therapy (OT) Training Program for Bachelor level.

The workshop aims to increase general understanding about OT in contribution to quality of rehabilitation; to present and update progress of the OT education development project; and to introduce the pre-service training course of Bachelor of Rehabilitation specialized in OT at HMTU

80 physiotherapists and professors of rehabilitation profession from Ministry of Health (MOH), general hospitals, rehabilitation centers of Northern provinces, representatives from Ministry of Educational and Training (MOET), USAID and HI and especially lecturers and student of HMTU attended the workshop. All participants expected the BOT training program will be expressed broadly and recruit qualified students. The BOT training program at HMTU will be started this November. The same BOT course was kicked off already at the sister university of Medicine and Pharmacy in HCMC in March 2017.

Last Friday, May 12, 2017, the new ambassador of Vietnam in the Hague, Mrs Ngo Thi Hoa, visited MCNV office in Amsterdam. Mrs Hoa wants to intensify the relationship between Vietnam and the Netherlands, joining forces in collaboration. To realise this, she made a list of organisations to visit and MCNV was on the top of this list.

MCNV is member of the Barefoot Guide Alliance, an alliance of 6 organisations around the world, which are sustaining the Barefoot Guide Connection to spread its message and methods. The Barefoot Guide Connection is a global network of individuals and organisations that value deep reflection on development practices by and for practitioners. A method that has emerged from writing four Barefoot guides is the ‘Writeshopping for Development’ methodology.

On December 12^th 2016, the Department of Education and Training (DoET) of Quang Tri Province, MCNV and the Korean INGO Medipeace co-organized a workshop to share results of an assessment on inclusive education (IE) for children with disabilities (CWD) recently done in the province. Participating in the workshop were representatives of provincial- and district-level organisations of the education sector, labour, invalids and social affairs sector, health sector and finance sector, the Disabled People’s Association, the Village Health Workers’ Association, the Charity Association and some INGOs. Besides sharing the IE assessment results, the DoET of Quang Tri Province, MCNV and Medipeace also consulted the relevant parties about the proposed plan on IE development in Quang Tri in the period of 2017-2020.

Earlier in October and November 2016, MCNV provided technical support to and collaborated with the DoET of Quang Tri to do a survey in Cam Lo, Gio Linh and Huong Hoa districts and Dong Ha city to assess the current situation of IE. The assessment results would be used for the orientation of interventions in improving the IE work in Quang Tri. Statistics show that Quang Tri province has about 37,000 people with disabilities, in which there are more than 6,300 CWD, counted for 1.1% of the population. Key findings from the assessment unveil that the education sector and other relevant sectors currently face a lot of challenges in the IE for CWD, particularly in implementing the supporting policy, ensuring financial sustainability, multi-sectoral collaboration, building capacity for teachers and parents of CWD, and improving the participation of CWD at schools. Key solutions identified and agreed upon at the workshop include: (i) setting up and developing a sustainable system of technical assistance and provision of early intervention and education services for CWD; (ii) transforming the current special education school into a support centre for IE; and (iii) strengthening human resources and capacity for the relevant organisations.