Civil Society in Vietnam Unites
From: Joseph Hannah
Date: Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Very interesting case showing the increasing reach and sophistication
of Vietnamese NGOs and social organizations, and (apparently) their
increasing acceptance as a legitimate and important "sector" by the
Vietnamese government.
Best,
Joe Hannah
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 03:59:00
> -0000 From: SEA-AIDS <sea-aids@eforums.healthdev.org> To: SEA-AIDS
> <sea-aids@eforums.healthdev.org> Subject: [sea-aids] News: Civil Society in
> Vietnam Unites
>
> News: Civil Society in Vietnam Unites
> JVnet
> 14/01/2009
> ************************
>
> Civil Society in Vietnam Unites in the Fight Against AIDS
>
> Participants from over 140 participants from groups of people living with
> HIV, drug users, sex workers, MSM, religious groups and organizations, local
> NGO, and community coming from nearly 40 provinces and cities all over
> Vietnam gathered in Hanoi for the second congress of the Vietnam Civil
> Society Partnership Platform on AIDS (VCSPA). The Congress was an
> opportunity for its members to interact and share experience. The Congress
> approved its Charter, set priorities for 2009, approved 2009-2010 Strategic
> Plan and elected a new Platform Coordinating Committee.
>
> Attending the Congress were Eamonn Murphy – UNAIDS Country Coordinator, Mr.
> Le Duy Som – Vice Director of the Social Affairs Department, Communist
> Party's Commission on Education and Communication, Ms. Vu Hai Yen – Official
> in charge of the Communication Department of Vietnam Administration of AIDS
> Control. USAID, UNFPA, Irish Aid, Global Fund CCM, HPI project, Futures
> Group International, CARE, NAV representatives also attended to show their
> support.
>
> Opening the Congress, both representatives of UNAIDS and VAAC expressed
> their appreciation and enthusiasm in seeing so many civil society
> representatives from all walks to life uniting for a common cause in
> fighting HIV/AIDS. They also stressed commitment of their agencies in
> supporting and collaborating with civil society for a more effective
> national response.
> Speaking in the Congress, Dr. Khuat Thi Hai Oanh, a co-founder of VCSPA
> pointed out that – the amazingly fast increase in membership reflects the
> need and readiness of the Vietnam civil society for a mechanism that could
> unite hundreds of small groups and organizations for a collective voice and
> action. She also highlighted the fact that the establishment of the Platform
> was mentioned with appreciation in the Country's Third UNGASS Report is an
> important recognition from the government to this model of organizing civil
> society.
> VCSPA's Charter confirms its principles of being inclusive, transparent,
> democratic, equitable and voluntary. For 2009, priorities areas of VCSPA
> including: increase the participation of civil society in the national
> response, harm reduction, access to care, treatment and support for PLHIV.
> Priorities activities in these areas will be capacity building, advocacy and
> monitoring.
>
> The Congress elected its new Platform Coordinating Committee which consists
> of 15 members. Among the members are PLHIV, drug users, monk, nun, Catholic
> follower, MSM, community workers and NGO leaders.
>
> VCSPA was founded in October 2007 by the Institute for Social Development
> Studies and Bright Future Network, with support from Health Development
> Network. Its mission is to unite civil society in Vietnam for meaningful
> contribution to an effective national response to HIV/AIDS. VCSPA is to
> create a space for civil society to discuss, debate, share experience and
> come to solidarity in action. VCSPA also aims at strengthening civil society
> capacity, and achieve a mechanism that ensures regular participation in
> developing, planning, implementing and monitoring the national AIDS program.
> During just over one year since its conception, VCSPA organized civil
> society in Vietnam to contribute significantly – for the first time – to the
> Country's UNGASS Report, supported its members with the most essential
> capacity building activities, expanded its membership in term of number,
> representation and geographic. VCSPA has been granted funding from OSI's
> Pulic Health Watch, Irish Aid, Ford Foundation, UNAIDS and UNFPA.
>
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From: Andrew Wells-Dang <andrewwd@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 6:53 AM
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
No question that this network has come a long way in a short time!
However, few of the many other civil society networks in Vietnam are
as well resourced as VCSPA appears to be - not that large external
funding is any guarantee of success.
>From the government side, HIV has been recognized as a sector where
social organizations' participation (aka "xa hoi hoa") is encouraged
since at least the 2004 National AIDS Strategy. As a consequence, it's
been easier for many civil society groups, including religious ones,
to become active in the HIV sector than in some other activities. In
part because of HIV activism, and maybe even as a result of Joe's own
active research, the term "civil society / xa hoi dan su" can't really
be considered sensitive anymore. After the VCSPA, it will likely be
more possible for "Vietnam civil society partnership platforms" on
other issues to form openly, too.
Regards, Andrew Wells-Dang
Univ of Birmingham, and CRS-Vietnam
----------
From: Hue-Tam Ho Tai <hhtai@fas.harvard.edu>
Date: 2009/2/19
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu>
There are plenty of non-state organizations that are not NGOs. Religious organizations, for instance, play a crucial role in the health sector. Maria Stalford has observed the very open role of Hoa Hao, Buddhist and Catholic groups in providing crucial services to patients. Hoa Hao groups provide free food, some Buddhist groups organize meditation sessions for terminally ill cancer patients, and so on.
Hue-Tam Ho Tai