Cambodia, Vietnam Share Experience in Caring for The Elderly

Toch Channy (R), an official of the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, presents a gift to a representative of senior citizens in Luong Son district, Hoa Binh province, on September 21. Photo: VNA

A delegation from the Cambodian Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation held a meeting with the Association of the Elderly in Hoa Binh province on September 21 to exchange experience in caring for and promoting the role of senior citizens, VNA reported Wednesday.

During the session in Luong Son district, Toch Channy, a division leader at the Cambodian ministry, said the visit aimed to learn about activities of all-level associations in Hoa Binh and a model in which people of different generations assist one another.

Chairman of the Hoa Binh Association of the Elderly Bui Tuan Hai gave the delegation an introduction of the local association’s activities in caring for and promoting the role of senior citizens, along with the progress of a project on mitigating the elderly’s income and health vulnerability in Vietnam.

The project “Reducing income and health-related vulnerability of older persons in Vietnam” (Project VIE071), funded by the Japanese Government and managed by the World Bank in Vietnam, has set up 20 clubs of the abovementioned model in the province since 2021. It has attracted over 1,000 members and benefitted the local community, he noted.

At the meeting, the two sides shared experience in caring for the elderly and role promotion, while discussing shortcomings to improve related activities.

The project VIE071 has been implemented in six cities and provinces, namely Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Binh, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan. Its objective is to increase the participation of the elderly in income-generating activities as well as their use of community-based health and social care services, through the activities of intergenerational self-help clubs.

The total expected number of direct beneficiaries of the ISHCs’ interventions is 18,000 persons aged 60 years and older, of which around 55% will be female, in 180 target communities in the six provinces.

The project is committed to reducing income and health related vulnerability of older persons through activities to increase income and the use of health self-care and community-based health care services.

At the meeting at Vietnam Association of the Elderly’s headquarters. Source: ngaymoionline.com

Earlier, on September 20, at the headquarters of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly (VAE), Vice President Phan Van Hung had a meeting with the Cambodian delegation.

Attending the meeting were Tran Ngoc Quyen, Program Development and Quality Manager, HelpAge International (HAI); Tran Bich Thuy, Country Director of HAI in Vietnam; leaders of the Office, the Central Committees of the VAE.

In the context of population aging taking place globally and in Asia, the two countries face many difficulties and challenges. The Cambodian delegation to visit and exchange experiences on elderly work with Vietnam is an opportunity for the two countries to exchange experiences, work together to do better work for the elderly and cope with the current population aging problem, said Hung.

Toch Channy expressed his pleasure to visit and learn from experience in Vietnam, emphasizing that Vietnam and Cambodia are both in the aging phase of the population, share many experiences and common goals. He hopes the Vietnam Elderly Association will help Cambodia with techniques and experiences in dealing with population aging.

The two sides’ delegates pose for a photo. Source: ngaymoionline.com

The HelpAge Cambodia is a member of the HelpAge International. With the consent of the Governments of the two countries and functional agencies, the Cambodian delegation visited, learned and learned experiences in Vietnam from September 20 to 22.

The purpose of the delegation was to visit and learn about the Vietnam Elderly Association, activities of the association at all levels, the role of the elderly in the cause of national construction and defense, the model of the Intergenerational Self-Help Club (ISHC) model. During the time in Vietnam, the delegation hopes that they would learn many valuable experiences from Vietnam to apply and deploy in Cambodia.

Intergenerational Self-Help Club (ISHC) model is a HelpAge’s community-based intervention project which centers around the elderly, aiming to promote the livelihood and the role of elders in their communities.