Hanoi (VNA) - The Government of Vietnam confirms that the interventions and supportfrom the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the period of 2017 – 2021 substantiallycontributed to Vietnam’s efforts to fulfill the transformative promise of“Leaving No One behind” while achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,heard a meeting in Hanoi on March 10.

UNFPARepresentative in Vietnam Naomi Kitahara together with Nguyen Thi Dieu Trinh, Deputy DirectorGeneral of the Foreign Economic Relations Department under the Ministry of Planning andInvestment, chaired the meeting to review the achievementsrecorded in the past five years under the framework of the 9th UNFPACountry Programme for Vietnam.

The meeting alsodiscussed the key intervention areas under the 10th CountryProgramme for Vietnam for the period of 2022 – 2026, which was approved by theUNFPA Executive Board on February 3 as well as next steps to deliver the new Programme,including the signing of 2022 annual work plans between UNFPA and the partner ministries.

Also present atthe meeting were representatives from relevant ministries and state agencies,national institutions, mass/social organisations and partner private sectorentities. They included the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Health,the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the GeneralStatistics Office, the Vietnam Farmer’s Union, and the Vietnam Youth Union, amongothers.

The Ministry ofPlanning and Investment as the Government coordinating agency confirmed that UNFPA substantially contributed to participatory andevidence-based policy and decision-making for rights-basednational laws, policies and programmes for women, young people and the elderly.UNFPA’s interventions also brought into Vietnam international best practice andinnovation to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and other harmfulpractices, which was essential to enable the delivery of multisectoralservices and coordination.

Under the framework of the 9th CountryProgramme and particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, UNFPA has driven to innovate and try different ways ofreaching out to vulnerable groups. Tele-health in SRH was piloted for the firsttime in Vietnam particularly for ethnic minority regions, and the very firstmobile app for the elderly care was introduced. Comprehensive sexualityeducation for young people was provided for the first time online, andinnovative and digital technology was extensively used for the prevention andresponse to gender-based violence and gender-biased sex selection. The 2019Population and Housing Census as well as the 2019 National Study on Violenceagainst Women were exceptionally successful in the application of the newestICT technology to speed up data collection and analysis process and minimizehuman errors.

UNFPA’s humanitarian supportto Vietnam in the past few years was also UNFPA priorities, which focuses onthe provision of integrated sexual and reproductive health services, preventionand response to gender-based violence, and support to the elders. Recognisingthe effect of climate change, and particularly in response to the 2020 floodsand downpours of rain in the central part of Vietnam, UNFPA supported mobileoutreach to protect the lives of pregnant women and couples who are planningfor childbearing. UNFPA made sure that vulnerable population groups were wellaware of gender-based violence risks, through digital technologies and thedelivery of dignity kits which were done for the very first time in Vietnam.

Building on the successes of the 9th Country Programme,UNFPA commits to supportingthe implementation of Vietnam’s National Plan of Action for Vietnam’sSustainable Goals for the Decade of Action and its new Socio-EconomicDevelopment Plan (2021-2026) under the Socio-Economic Development Strategy(2021-2030), both of which place focused attention to population dynamics andpopulation issues.  

The Executive Board of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recentlyapproved the new 10th country programme for Vietnam in the amount of26.5 million USD to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030,targeting those at risk of being left behind, including women and girls,adolescents and youth, older persons, ethnic minorities, migrant workers,people with disabilities, and survivors of gender-based violence.

Kitahara expressed her appreciation for theGovernment’s partnership and collaboration with UNFPA since 1977 andparticularly in the past five years. She highlighted some of the keybreakthroughs that UNFPA ensured from the implementation of the outgoingprogrammes/projects. They included the strategic partnerships with both UNFPAtraditional donors such as AustralianDFAT, KOICA, Norway and Japan, and non-traditional partners including privatesector entities such as MSD, Bloomberg and Vital Strategies. UNFPA Vietnam now operates for the implementationof various projects with annual budgets which have increased almost by threetimes by the end of 2021.

Kitahara stressed: “The 10th Country Programme will aim at achieving thetransformative results of the UNFPA’s corporate Strategic Plan, towards Vietnamwith Zero preventable maternal death, Zero unmet need for family planning, andZero gender-based violence and other harmful practices against women and girls.The Programme in the coming five years is in alignment with the United Nations SustainableDevelopment Cooperation Framework for Vietnam to fulfill the transformativepromise of “Leaving no one behind” by directly contributing to two areas: Inclusive Social Development,and Governance and Access to Justice, thus reducing inequalities andvulnerabilities.”

While implementing the 10th Country Programme, UNFPA will continue to partner with the Government, other nationalinstitutions in accordance with UNFPA’s comparative advantages and technicalcompetencies, and fully in line with the principles of national ownership andmutual accountability. Under the United Nations Development System (UNDS)reform agenda, UNFPA will contribute to joint initiatives with different UnitedNations agencies./.