U.S Funds Four Projects to Promote Socio-economic Development in Vietnam

The U.S. Embassy signed four grants today totaling over US$46,000 with Vietnamese groups that will implement important projects to promote and enhance socio-economic development in Vietnam.

 

A grant of nearly US$20,000 was awarded to the Center for Education Promotion and Empowerment of Women (CEPEW) which will implement a project in two communes in Thanh Hoa Province to enhance the accountability of local authorities for their services and empower citizens to participate in the local political process to implement socio-economic development for the community.

 

The Center for Support of Social Development Programs (CSDP) was funded with more than US$15,000 for a project in the two Thai Nguyen Province communes which are most negatively affected by a highway project and some industrial zone projects.  It is aimed at increasing the accountability and transparency in local land acquisition and resettlement works through increasing accessibility to information for local people.

 

The other two grants of US$11,000 were awarded to the Research Center for Human & Citizen’s Rights (CRIGHTS) under the Hanoi National University of Vietnam, and a group of returned Fulbrighters and Humphrey fellows who studied journalism in the U.S.

 

With the U.S. financial support, CRIGHTS will develop and publish a Vietnamese-language Handbook of Human Rights under the form of questions and answers, and hold two students seminars on human rights. It is expected that there will be 1,500 copies of the handbook published and disseminated at the end of this project. The last project, to be conducted by returned Fulbrighters and Humphrey fellows, includes four workshops for fourth-year students at Vietnam’s universities.  It is aimed at empowering potential young Vietnamese journalists by providing them with knowledge and awareness of ethical issues, enhancing their code of ethics, and improving their reporting and writing skills. (U.S. Embassy Press Release)