Development organizations request transparent budget spending in VN

A group of development organizations headed by Oxfam has presented a petition requiring transparency, accountability and participation of citizens in the allocation, management and use of the State budget.

Formulated with the assistance of the National Assembly’s (NA) Finance and Budget Committee and after consulting 1,147 citizens and 408 State staffers in five provinces, the petition is expected to be factored into the amended State Budget Law which will be put on the table for NA deputies to discuss this week.

The first proposal is the law needs to clarify subjects and contents to be publicized. The publicizing method must be applied in a way that could help citizens understand, know and participate in the process and facilitate access to publicized information.

Secondly, in the amended law, citizens must have the right to directly and indirectly involve in State budget allocations.

Thirdly, citizens’ right to participate in the monitoring of the State budget management and allocation must remain in the amended law.

Besides, the law needs to have specific sanctions for violations against this transparency mandate.

The consultation results gave many proofs of ineffective and inappropriate use of the State budget, limited participation of citizens, improper use and allocations of the State budget for development, while the right to monitor such processes by citizens has not been ensured.

The publicizing of budget spending is formalistic and not convenient for citizens to understand or express their opinions. The way information is supplied and conveyed is not appropriate, while information is insufficient and unintelligible and there is a lack of measures to assist citizens in getting access to information they care about.

In some localities, information about budget revenue collection and spending is not delivered publicly and in details to citizens.

According to the group’s survey conducted via the two news sites, Vietnamnet and VnExpress, there are 12,000 people (95% of the respondents) agreeing on publicizing budget estimates of all management levels and 8,600 (96%) wanting public debts to be publicized.

The group said in the petition that it appreciates openness and efforts of the law drafting team as well as the evaluating team in taking into account opinions of the communities and adding them to the draft amendment of the law which is scheduled to be presented before the NA on November 25. The consideration of proposals of citizens will help the law more realistic and feasible, it said.

Development organizations involved in this petition include Oxfam, the Action to the Community Development Center, the Center for Community Empowerment, the Center for Development and Integration, the Center for Education Promotion and Empowerment of Women, and the Cooperation Group for Governance and Public Administration Reform.

Airport told to target smugglers

Ha Noi Customs Department has told officials at Noi Bai International Airport to step up efforts to combat smuggling, which generally rises as Tet (Lunar New Year) approaches.

Smuggling and trade fraud would become more sophisticated, especially when the new airport terminal opened in January, said Nguyen Duc Minh, deputy head of the airport's customs unit.

The airport has become a hotbed for smugglers, especially drug traffickers, he said.

Apart from developing a plan to reduce illegal transporting, the airport would add about 60 more customs officials to increase supervision of imported and exported goods, he said.

Airport customs officials would also co-ordinate with agencies such as the Northern Airport Authority, Ha Noi police and the Ministry of Public Securities.

The Noi Bai customs unit has handled 315 cases of smuggling and trade fraud so far this year.

Female drug trafficker gets life sentence

A local woman in the northern province of Cao Bang was sentenced to life in prison for drug trafficking yesterday.

Nearly five months ago, on July 4, the local police found 4kg of methamphetamine during a raid in the house of Luc Thi Dang, 26, from Trung Khanh Town.

Dang admitted that she had purchased the drugs from an unidentified person in Dai Tan District (Guangxi, China) at the rate of VND130 million (US$6,250) per kilogram, and had attempted to sell them at VND400 million (US$19,230) per kilogram.

Dang already had a criminal record for drug trafficking.

A seminar focusing on the need to form a partnership group on social security in connection with poverty reduction in Vietnam, was co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the German development cooperation agency GIZ in Hanoi on November 26.

Participants underscored the necessity to set up the group, which is expected to support information sharing and policy dialogue coordination, and enhance the links between separate partner groups operating in the field.

According to MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam, the ministry has received cooperation and assistance in many aspects from international partners and non-governmental organisations.

However, there has yet to have an effective and harmonious coordination mechanisms to create strong change in the field, he added.

During the event, attendees proposed ideas to build the group’s action plans, stressing the need to have strong political commitments and involvement of relevant parties.

The seminar heard the four key fields that are being implemented within Vietnam’s social security system, including job, income and poverty reduction; social insurance; social assistance for specific groups; and basic social services.

The system aims to increase income per capita in poor households by 3.5 times and reduce the rate of low-income family to 1.5 -2 percent per year by 2020.

It will also work to provide frequent social assistance to about 2.5 million people, while supporting people suffering from natural disasters without delay.

According to the ministry, in 2013, Vietnam maintained a poverty reduction rate of between 1.7 percent and 2-4 percent in the poorest districts. More than 1.5 million jobs were created. Localities and enterprises sent nearly 90,000 workers abroad, 10 percent more than in previous years. The promotion of social security policies and the increase of the minimum wage in the beginning of the year contributed to improving people’s living conditions.

At present, Vietnam is taking many measures, along with support from organisations and partners to realise the country’s targets in ensuring social security.

Kien Giang vows to improve living conditions for ethnic minorities

The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has targeted to cut the number of poor households by 1.5 to 2 percent per year while doubling annual per capita income of ethnic minority people to 50 million VND between 2014 and 2019.

The set targets were told at the second Ethnic Minority Congress (2014 – 2019) in Kien Giang on November 26.

The congress saw the presence of Government Committee for Ethnic Minorities Deputy Head Hoang Xuan Luong and 160 delegates representing over 250,000 ethnic people of the province.

Delegates also mapped out some other goals including new classroom buildings in every community; encouraging at least 96 percent of school-aged children to attend schools; and providing vocational training for over 40 percent of working-age population.

Kien Giang province is home to 1.7 million people of 27 minorities, of which ethnics account for 14.88 percent.

The province has been bumping thousands of billion VND to develop infrastructure and economy in far-flung areas where those people live, for example, the 200 billion VND (9.36 million USD) project to supply electricity for Khmer people and the construction of a boarding school with an investment of 50 billion VND (2.34 million USD) at the first phase.

In addition, through a series of provincial efforts to reduce poverty, the living standard of local ethnic people has been notably improved.

The province currently has 9 communes and 11 hamlets under the government’s poverty reduction Programme 135, compared to 18 communes and 12 hamlets in 2009.

Seminar reviews impact of power plants on Mekong River’s mainstream

The standing office of the Vietnam National Mekong Committee held a consultation seminar in Hanoi on a study of impacts of hydropower plants on the Mekong River’s mainstream in Hanoi on November 26.

The study, conducted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), examined overall environmental, economic and social impacts of the construction and operation of hydropower projects on floodplain in the lower Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia, said MONRE Deputy Minister Nguyen Thai Lai.

The 30-month study surveyed more than 5 million ha of floodplain and 930,000ha of delta in Cambodia and nearly 4 million ha of delta in Vietnam. It pointed out direct and indirect impacts of power plants on the economic and social situations in the lower Mekong and their causes.

Officials, scientists and experts at the seminar said the study has included relatively adequate data on hydro-meteorological, natural, waterway and socio-economic features of the basin, and provided quantitative evaluations of power plants’ impacts.

It is considered as an important source of data for members of the Mekong River Commission to refer and cooperate towards the sustainable development of water and relating resources.

The commission said by 2013, there were at least 77 hydropower projects planned on Mekong River's tributaries and 11 mainstream hydropower projects/dams planned in the Lower Mekong Basin, which is home to more than 60 million people.

Many National Assembly (NA) deputies at a NA session discussing the Law on the Organization of Local Governments on November 24 suggested that the people’s councils at all levels be maintained to ensure the supervision right of citizens.

Deputy Tran Ngoc Vinh from Haiphong stated that the removal of the people’s councils is like eliminating civil rights at the local level and losing an effective legal tool, thus threatening democracy in making decisions on local issues.

Meanwhile, Deputy Tran Minh Dieu from Quang Binh emphasized that the maintenance of both people’s committees and councils at local levels is necessary to ensure a balance between the power of authorities and the supervision of citizens.

Some other NA deputies also voiced their concerns that piloting a model of local governments without the people’s councils at levels of districts and wards is not convincing enough, and this plan needs to be stopped soon.

However, Deputy Tran Du Lich took the opposite stance, saying that the three-level government apparatus is currently very cumbersome, and this will result in failure to increase wages and improve social welfare.

Agreeing with Lich, Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thai Binh admitted that the State apparatus is too bulky.

The Prime Minister also advocated for the removal of grassroots people’s councils, the Government Office said in a note. The elimination of the people’s councils at districts and wards does not mean abandoning the representative role of locals in supervising the people’s committees, as such tasks will be assumed by provincial people’s councils, the Government leader stated.

In certain cities and provinces, the model of district- and ward-level people’s councils has been relinquished.

Transport fees reduce in three big cities

The Ministry of Finance on Tuesday announced that transport companies have cut fares and freights in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang after conducting an inspection over transport fee management in these cities.

Businesses in Hanoi have lowered the fees as per instruction by Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance.

Taxi and bus companies have reduced their fares by 2-10 percent and 5.8-10 percent respectively. Cargo transport firms have lessened freight rates by 3.4-3.9 percent.

In HCMC, several taxi firms have posted a reduction of 2.7-9 percent. Reduction rates swing from 2 percent to 11.33 percent for passenger transport services.

In Da Nang, taxi fares have fallen 3-32 percent while freight rates have been lowered by 3.2-6.7 percent.

Schools enhance teaching life skills to students

Parents of students in Nguyen Thai Binh Primary School in Ho Chi Minh City are very happy as their children are taught to queue while buying food at canteen of the school and bow their head to say thank you to sellers. Mrs. Phuong Thuy, a parent, said that students stayed all day in the school; accordingly the school should teach them etiquette.

Similarly, students of Le Quy Don Junior High School have been trained to queue while waiting for their food in the canteen. They have themselves decided their food and cleared away the tray of food.

They have been trained such trivial habits to have good manners which become preparation for life.

Principal of Le Quy Don Senior School Do Thi Bich Duyen said that the school has also organized outside class activities including presenting gifts to the underprivileged people in disadvantaged districts or playing with children in orphan centers.

All activities will help to cultivate sympathy with poor people in students, she added.

Unlike many people thinking about lessons for citizenship education as a ‘dried’ subject and hard to teach and learn, students of Bach Dang Junior High School are interested in these lessons.

Teacher Le Tuan Anh has provided lessons with social, legal and cultural knowledge attached with vivid reality and practice. These lessons such as love for parents, money saving and bad effects of playing games in internet become good examples for life.

Vietnam monitors imported creatures in border gates on alert for plague

The Department of Preventive Medicine under Vietnamese Ministry of Health sent a dispatch to its sub-divisions asking to prevent mouse plague which was recorded in some nations in the world.

The departments of health have to monitor plague on wild animals especially focusing on rodents as well as imported creatures into the country through border crossings. Local governments should provide more information of the disease to residents and urge them to clean the environment and food safety. Those who suffer fever and ganglion should go to nearby medical clinics for check.

Though the country has had no case of plague for 12 years, the risk of spreading the disease is greatly likely to enter the country.  According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic outbreak in Madagascar within three months has infected 119 people and killed 40 people.

Vietnam alerts with mouse plague

In response to the mouse plague which is breaking out in Madagascar, the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health yesterday said that it is tightening control on mouse plague in border gates and plague-prone areas.

Despite no sign of the plague on people and mouse in the country over 10 years, the Department of Preventive Medicine said it would monitor the situation and continuously update the information of the epidemic in Madagascar.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the outbreak of the plague in Madagascar  occurred in three months with 119 infection cases and 40 of  them succumbed to the disease. WHO said that Madagascar has high population density and weak medical network which promote the spreading of the epidemic. Yet WHO has not issued warning not to travel to Madagascar.

Due to the fast pace of urbanisation, the sprawl has taken up land that was once agricultural and even surrounded cemeteries.

In many locations, the cemeteries are just a few steps away from residential blocks, making for a strange cityscape. According to Hanoi's cemetery development plan to 2030 with view toward 2050, major cemeteries in the inner city will have to be closed, but new graves continue to be added each year.

In Quan Hoa Ward, Hanoi, cemetery of 200 graves has become surrounded by homes. According to current urban planning policy, the cemetery should be built at least 1.5km away from any residential area. However the graves lie right next to the doors of occupied homes, walkways and wells. It was once in an isolated area, but over the last 20 years, it has become residential.

People there have learned to live alongside the graves, but on memorial days relatives come to visit the graves, and smoke from incenses and burnt offerings waft through whole area. Recently, the land has shown signs of contamination. The residents are hoping local authorities will move the graves.

Many such cemeteries have existed for a long time and covered in brush. They do not meet environmental standards and are not maintained. As land encroachment continues, many are choosing to build their own graves beforehand to reserve the land.

A number of elderly citizens of HCM City also complain that they find it very difficult to acquire a burial plot as land in the city is increasingly scarce.

Dutch group to cycle throughout Vietnam to foster awareness of women's rights

A Dutch group of four women will begin cycling to central and northern Vietnam on Tuesday and work with the managers of two projects there in order to raise awareness of women’s rights.

The two projects are dedicated to education, health, and sanitation for children and women in Quang Tri Province in the central part and Phu Tho Province in the north, Sophie van Hoof, a group member told Tuoi Tre News on Monday during their stopover in Ho Chi Minh City.

“We’ll cycle 80km per day then we’ll take a rest, so we expect to reach Hanoi around New Year,” Van Hoof added.

The quartet, which is named R4WR (Ride 4 Women's Rights), has been friends for 17 years and all of them just earned a master’s degree last year.

They have spent around 11 weeks since September cycling through six countries to carry out their project intended to appeal for women's rights worldwide, R4WR said.

Vietnam is the sixth country the group has ridden through to achieve their target of 400 days riding bicycles throughout 22 countries and covering 14,000km, said Carlijn Bettink, 24, who is the group’s leader.

The other members include Lidewij Ponjee and Monique van der Veeken, both of whom are also 24 years old.

Bettink said the idea of cycling for women’s rights came up when Van Hoof and her were sitting on a train someday last year and thinking about doing something big, as the four already graduated at that time.

“We wanted to travel, but not for ourselves,” Bettink said. “We wanted to do something which we believe is important to stand up for.”

“We then discussed what to fight for and decided that’s women’s rights,” she added.

Meanwhile, Van Hoof said that during their study and travel, they have learned that there are places where big differences between the two genders do exist and girls suffer discrimination.

“We think that it should be equal everywhere,” the Dutch woman added.

R4WR said through 400 days of cycling, they plan to visit countries which have been known by many people and places that are less famous in order to explore the bigger meaning of women’s rights around the world.

Meeting women in different cultures, R4WR hopes to contribute to the bettering of the position of women of all ages globally by sharing stories they have got during the journey.

R4WR are expected to visit local women’s projects and pool stories about women’s rights in three aspects: education, family planning, and gender equality.

The group will then post them on their website at http://r4wr.org/ in the hope of inspiring women the world over.

The Dutch women revealed that they were confronted by difficulties when they first started the project because people did not know them, plus some even said frankly that they did not believe in the project’s feasibility.

“We feel like we need to prove that the project is not simply a plan but we can absolutely realize it,” Bettink said.

The women have used their own money to fund the project, she added.

They sometimes receive help from local people who invite them to stay in their house for free, like a Dutch family living in Ho Chi Minh City where they are now staying, in addition to support from other sponsors, families, and friends.

After traveling 14,000km, R4WR will return to the Netherlands and give lectures, talks, and presentations at schools and symposia as well as release a book on women’s rights.

The Vietnam-Korea Vocational College of Technology in northern Bac Giang province officially inaugurated and launched its 2014-15 academic year on November 24.

The opening ceremony saw the presence of Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (RoK) to Vietnam Jun Dae Joo, Chief Representative of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Vietnam Chang Jae Yun, local officials, teachers and students.

Construction of the school started in March 2012 with a total investment of 16 million USD, including 10 million USD as non-refundable aid provided by the RoK Government.

It enrolled over 400 students for the majors of automobile technology, electrics, electronics, mechanism and information technology for the 2014-15 academic year.

At the event, Ambassador Jun Dae Joo described the inauguration of the school as a manifestation of the growing cooperation between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) in recent years.

He expressed his hope that the school will provide high-quality, skilled human resources for businesses nationwide.

On her part, Minister Chuyen emphasised the need for the school to work together with businesses and experienced engineers in designing curriculums to meet market demands.

The Vietnam-Korea Vocational College of Technology is among the 40 vocational training centres nationwide selected to receive State investments to train high-quality skilled labour for the country.

Factory workers denounce employers for low-quality meals

Many Vietnamese labourers have been complaining that factories are cutting back on their meals to save money.

Tuan, a worker in HCM City said, "Right now, we have to do extra shifts five days a week to increase our meals. But now, they intend to cut that meal off. How are we supposed to have the strength to work?"

Another worker said, "They want high productivity, but they also are trying to skimp on our meals. Extra shifts five days in a row already is a violation of labour rules, but we still try our best. They should be understanding."

According to the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in HCM City, since early 2014, the city has had 70 strikes and the cause for 28 of them was related to meal quality at workplaces.

On October 27, nearly 1,000 workers from T.O. Company stopped working and demanded that employers improve the meals. The workers, who worked six days a week, complained of spoiled meat and vegetables. "If the cooks didn't tell us that this is chicken and fish nobody would know what it was."

Even though the labourers tried to report the issue multiple times, the problem remained unsolved. Pregnant and women with small child are hardest-hit. Some of them are forced to bring their own food to augment the meals. Nearly 4,000 workers at Vina Duke Company also stopped work for a week because their meals were so small and unhygienic.

An official of Hoc-Mon District Labour Union said, "Cutting meals will not only have bad impact on employee health, but also sow the seeds for labour disputes."

Japanese technology brings hope for cancer patients in Vietnam

The Japanese Grandsoul Nara group and the Hanoi Medical University (HMU) have signed a research collaboration agreement, said Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent in Japan.

Under the agreement, Japanese health clinic Grandsoul Nara will transfer the new cellular immunotherapy technology for the Hanoi Medical University (HMU).

Addressing the signing ceremony, Prof. Ta Van Thanh, Vice Principal of the HMU, highlighted the importance of research cooperation with Japan , while Tran Duc Binh, Consul General of Vietnam’s Consulate General in Osaka, said the collaboration would help improve the quality of healthcare service in Vietnam. He also expressed his hope that more collaboration agreements in the healthcare sector would be signed between the two countries.

For his part, President of Grandsoul Nara Dr. Takahiro Tsujimura said the company would try its best to effectively cooperate with the Hanoi Medical in terms of technology transfer, medical research and human resource training.

Over 9.5 million children get free measles-rubella shots

All 63 provinces and cities across Vietnam completed the first phase of the national measles-rubella vaccination campaign with more than 9.5 million children safely receiving free shots, preliminary reports from the localities show.

All vaccine samples taken randomly at vaccinations sites in eight localities met quality requirements and were delivered and preserved in standards conditions, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Tran Nhu Duong said on November 26.

The phase from September and October received support from local authorities but encountered several difficulties in public awareness and communication, especially in rural areas, Nhuong said, adding that it was under review so that organisers could have an exact look on its outcomes as well as shortcomings.

The campaign’s second phase is being held in November and December this year while the third one will take place in January and February, 2015. Most of children subject to these phases are primary and secondary students, added Duong.

The free vaccination campaign targets about 23 million children between 1 and 14 years old throughout Vietnam , increasing the vaccination rate for children of this age group to 95 percent.

It was prompted by a measles epidemic that erupted in Vietnam in the first quarter of 2014, with outbreaks reported in 61 out of the 63 cities and provinces.

Collective bargaining helps to increase workers' wages

Collective bargaining offered workers an opportunity to earn more than the minimum wage, a key issue in Viet Nam, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in a country brief presented at a conference yesterday in Ha Noi.

The ILO and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs hosted the two-day conference.

Participants discussed Viet Nam's wage policy in the context of a market economy and economic integration. The organisers released the Report on the ASEAN Community 2015: Managing Integration for Better Jobs and Shared Prosperity during the event.

In a market economy, collective bargaining and setting a minimum wage complemented each other, the ILO said in the brief, which cited the ASEAN Community report.

The brief added that this was a key issue to the development of sound industrial relations in Viet Nam and could help employers and employees find constructive solutions to wage disputes.

Pham Minh Huan, deputy minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and chairman of the National Wage Council, said that with the establishment of the council in 2013, Viet Nam significantly strengthened its minimum-wage-setting mechanisms.

The council gave trade unions' representatives and employers' representatives a direct stake in minimum wage negotiations and recommendations.

So far, both collective wage bargaining and regular enterprises-level dialogue is uncommon in the country.

"Improving the legal and institutional framework for collective bargaining and democratic representation for workers, and strengthening the capacity of employers' and workers' organisations to engage in effective collective agreement are all critical," Huan said.

Viet Nam could benefit from joining the more than 150 other countries who have ratified relevant international conventions, he said.

About one-third of workers in Viet Nam depend on wages for their livelihoods as opposed to being self-employed. This compares with a world average of more than 50 per cent, according to the ASEAN Community report.

Labour officials said the amount of salaried workers in Viet Nam was expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades, meaning the country could narrow its distance from the world average. In 2013, salaried workers represented 34.8 per cent of total employment, up from 16.8 per cent in 1996.

Malte Luebke, the ILO's senior regional wage specialist, said that while half of working people made a living with agriculture, little more than a tenth of salaried employees worked in the sector.

Agricultural work offers one of the lowest average monthly wages – VND2.6 million (US$125), compared with financial intermediation, banking and insurance sector workers, where workers earn about VND7.2 million ($344) per month, according to the Labour Force Survey 2013.

Participants at the conference also discussed disparities in the amount men and women earn. Although the overall gender pay gap in Viet Nam is less than 10 per cent, it is extensive in the low-wage sector of agriculture, where women earn 32 per cent less than men.

However, in the sectors with the highest wages, financial intermediation, banking and insurance, and technologies and sciences, female workers are paid 3.4 and 1.4 per cent more than their colleagues, respectively, according to the ILO brief.

In 2012, average monthly wages in Viet Nam reached VND3.8 million ($181). This placed Viet Nam ahead of Laos ($119), Cambodia ($121) and Indonesia ($174). By comparison, average monthly wages in Thailand were $357, $609 in Malaysia and $3,547 in Singapore.

The large wage discrepancies between ASEAN member states reflected substantial differences in a number of factors, including labour productivity, Luebke said.

As countries adopt new technologies, invest in infrastructure, encourage structural reforms and improve the skills of their workforce, they lay the foundation for enterprises to become more efficient and to move into activities with higher returns, Luebke said.

Officials at the conference said Viet Nam, which is entering more broad trade relationships, could see exponential growth in the coming decade. 

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