INGOs To Provide Additional US$9.6 Million of Aid to Thanh Hoa

At the conference, six NGOs including Freundeskreis fur International Tuberkulosehilfe – FIT; Good Neighbors International in Vietnam – GNI, Sustainable Trade Initiative – IDH; Netherlands Development Organisation – SNV, World Vision in Vietnam – WVI, Research, and Center for Sustainable Development Studies – CSD signed the above budget aid.

An MoU signing ceremony between the leaders of Thanh Hoa province and a representative of one of six foreign NGOs (Photo: Thu Ha).

In the coming time, CSD plans to implement the “Developing a friendly school model with an estimated budget of more than US$54,000” project. FIT is expected to implement the projects of Public-public, public-private health collaboration, and Integrating non-communicable diseases with tuberculosis with a budget of US$200,000 for Thanh Hoa Province.

World Vision looks ahead to implement programs and projects in Thanh Hoa province with a total budget of over US$7.6 million. GNI will implement the “Supporting rural development in Vinh Loc district in the period of 2023-2027” project with a total commitment value of over US$1.3 million.

Besides, in the 2023-2025 period, IDH will implement the Life And Building Safety (LABS) Initiative for textile and footwear factories, which aims for efficient use of resources and cleaner production with an expected budget of US$560,000. From 2022 to 2026, SNV will implement the “Biodigester project for a low-emission livestock sector” with a total committed budget of US$325,000.

In her report, Tran Thi Thu Hang – Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Thanh Hoa province, said: From 2020 to 2022, the province’s disbursement value reaches US$21.6 million. On average, Thanh Hoa receives US$7.2 million per year. 57 organizations with 48 programs, projects/non-projects were implemented in the province in 2022. These are programs and projects in priority fields, which receive special attention and support from Thanh Hoa province, directly and promptly responding to the basic needs of beneficiaries, especially the most vulnerable groups that have not been reached by local socio-economic development, poverty reduction, and target programs and plans.

Nguyen Van Thi – Standing Vice Chairman of Thanh Hoa People’s Committee said: Thanh Hoa hopes that central agencies, diplomatic missions, and foreign and domestic NGOs continue to pay attention to and support the implementation of new projects in Thanh Hoa. He expects those projects to focus on priority areas such as health; education and training; agriculture and rural development; environmental protection, clean water, response to climate change, prevention, control, and mitigation of natural disasters and emergency relief; solutions to social problems.

Phan Anh Son – Vice Chairman, General Secretary of VUFO, and Deputy Chairman of the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee said: In the past 3 years, the cooperation process between Thanh Hoa and representatives of NGOs, though faced difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, still achieved positive results.

Phan Anh Son – Vice Chairman, General Secretary of VUFO, and Vice Chairman of the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee delivered a speech at the Conference (Photo: Thu Ha).

To quickly remove obstacles for NGOs and attract FNG aid to serve the interests of the people, Phan Anh Son suggested that PACCOM coordinate with Thanh Hoa’s Department of Foreign Affairs to organize workshops focusing on NGOs that already operated or registered to operate in Thanh Hoa to provide information on NGOs, their working areas and fields in the locality; analyze successful models, effective projects as a premise for the implementation of the coming projects.

He suggested Thanh Hoa’s Department of Foreign Affairs play the focal role to solve existing problems; report to the People’s Committee when necessary o promptly handle difficulties related to project approval and progress. The department also needs to report to provincial leaders, local authorities, and NGOs to maintain long-term effective programs. If NGOs encounter problems, they should inform the standing agencies or work with focal units. The People’s Aid Coordinating Committee will be responsible for communicating with ministries and sectors to urge timely settlement.