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Strongly spreading humanistic and noble values ​​in volunteer activities

Thanh Quynh (Implementation) • August 2, 2025 10:32

Nghe An Newspaper, Radio and Television had a conversation with comrade Nguyen Dinh Hung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province about promoting the humanistic values ​​of volunteer activities, making practical contributions to the process of overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and restoring people's lives in a sustainable way.

Nghe An Newspaper, Radio and Television had a conversation with comrade Nguyen Dinh Hung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Nghe An province about promoting the humanistic values ​​of volunteer activities, making practical contributions to the process of overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and restoring people's lives in a sustainable way.

Thanh Quynh(Implementation) • August 2, 2025

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PV: Dear comrade, recently, many volunteer groups inside and outside the province have turned to Nghe An to support people to overcome the consequences of storm No. 3. Could you provide general information about the current volunteer situation, about the groups that have come to support and the forms of support?

Comrade Nguyen Dinh Hung:In recent days, due to the impact of storm No. 3 and its aftermath, the western communes of Nghe An province have suffered unprecedented heavy rain and floods, causing heavy damage to people, property, crops and infrastructure, seriously affecting people's lives, especially in remote, isolated and isolated areas.

The Provincial Fatherland Front Committee has closely coordinated with localities to review the damage and specific needs of the people, and at the same time issued an appeal, with the entire political system participating in supporting the people of Western Nghe An.

Less than 2 weeks after the storm, hundreds of volunteer groups from neighboring provinces, along with many social organizations, businesses, Buddhist groups, union members, youth, hometown associations, individual groups, professional groups... directly went to the damaged localities to provide relief. The forms of support were practical and closely aligned with real needs: cash, food, necessities, blankets, medicine, water filters, generators, medical equipment, books, school supplies for students... This support not only helped to solve immediate difficulties, but also provided additional resources for people to gradually restore their long-term livelihoods.

What is very valuable is that the people in the affected localities also showed a very high spirit of solidarity, mutual love and mutual assistance. People in the damaged areas are less willing to share and support their compatriots in the flood-prone areas, places isolated by road cuts. In particular, hundreds of people have voluntarily registered to join the disaster relief support groups in the flood-prone areas, with the desire to contribute a small effort to help people stabilize their lives soon. Many free charity kitchens and "zero-dong" buses have become warm bright spots, spreading love and the spirit of mutual love and mutual assistance "the strong help the weak".

PV: The characteristics of Western Nghe An are remote areas, isolated terrain, traffic disruption, and landslides. According to you, when volunteer groups want to directly give gifts to people in affected areas, what should they pay attention to to ensure the safety of both the group and the local people?

Comrade Nguyen Dinh Hung:This is a very practical problem. Many groups with sincere volunteer hearts have proactively gone to the locations to hand out gifts, however, this also has many potential risks. There are cases where groups encounter unexpected rain and floods, landslides causing traffic jams, even endangering lives. Sometimes, due to not knowing the area, the group arrives at the same time as another group, causing imbalance and wasting resources.

I think that when groups want to go deep into the area, they need to have a specific plan, contact the commune authorities or the Fatherland Front Committees at all levels to grasp the terrain, weather, traffic conditions, and actual needs. In particular, they need to follow the instructions of the locality, and should not arbitrarily enter isolated or unsafe areas to avoid unfortunate risks.

PV: From the past practice, in your opinion, what positive values ​​have volunteer activities brought? What principles should be followed to make the support effective, and what lessons should be drawn for the future?

Comrade Nguyen Dinh Hung:First of all, it must be affirmed that the volunteer activities in recent days have been strongly spreading the spirit of humanity, solidarity and sharing in the community. With the close and decisive leadership of the Provincial Party Committee, the urgent participation of authorities at all levels, especially the coordination, orientation and connection role of the Provincial Fatherland Front, have contributed to improving the efficiency, professionalism and spread of volunteer activities. In the context of natural disasters, timely and appropriate support not only brings material value but also invaluable spiritual support, helping people have more confidence to overcome difficulties and soon stabilize their lives.

However, for charity activities to be truly effective, it is necessary to adhere to three principles: Right target - Right need - Right time. Right target means accurately identifying the people who are truly damaged, not leaving out those in difficulty, but also avoiding exploitation and profiteering. Right need means that support must be close to local reality: places that need food, places that need clean water, medicine, or housing and livelihood support. Right time means not only immediate support in natural disasters, but also a long-term roadmap, supporting the recovery and reconstruction process after storms and floods.

We learned an important lesson, that is, if relief activities lack unified coordination, it will easily lead to a situation of dispersion and overlap, with some places overloading volunteer groups, while others are neglected; relief goods sometimes overlap, not matching actual needs. Therefore, the role of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee and the Front system at all levels is extremely important, both as a channel to receive information, synthesize actual needs from the grassroots, and as a connecting point, guiding volunteer groups to approach the right location, at the right time, and to the right target. In particular, the drastic participation of Party committees and authorities at all levels has created favorable conditions in terms of information, human resources, means and ensuring safety for relief activities to be deployed promptly, effectively, and in the right direction, not only for emergency relief but also for long-term stability and sustainable development in the locality.

PV:It is known that the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee has also mobilized and called on organizations and individuals inside and outside the province to join hands to support people in flood-affected areas. Could you share the results as well as how the Front organizes the allocation and ensures that the support goes to the right place and the right people?

Comrade Nguyen Dinh Hung: As of 4:30 p.m. on August 1, the total amount of donations registered in the province was 120,771,699,511 VND (more than 120.7 billion VND). Of which, 77,496,656,677 VND was transferred to the Provincial Relief Fund account; the remaining amount in the Commune Relief Fund account was 13,564,185,834 VND. The value of the goods received was 3,896,300,000 VND.

The Provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee has set up working groups to directly mobilize and give gifts to people in areas with heavy damage. We coordinate with media agencies and propaganda channels from the Central to the Provincial level, directing the commune level to provide hotline information and contact numbers of the Chairmen of the Fatherland Front Committees of communes damaged by storm No. 3 so that relief groups can proactively contact, grasp information, locations, and allocate resources. Every day, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee announces information on the amount of money, groups, and individuals supporting people damaged by storm No. 3 on the Front's media channels, and reports daily to the Provincial Steering Committee.

Pursuant to the direction of the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee on the allocation of the Relief Fund to support localities in overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee has allocated the first phase with a total amount of 48 billion VND to 31 communes, and the second phase with a total amount of 64 billion VND to 22 communes. At the same time, the Relief Committee and the Standing Committee of the Fatherland Front Committee of the communes are responsible for reporting to the Party Committee, coordinating with the authorities and relevant units to manage, distribute and use the support money for the right purpose, promptly and effectively according to the provisions of Decree No. 93/2021/ND-CP dated October 27, 2021 of the Government and related legal documents; fully complete the records, procedures for payment, settlement and archiving of documents according to regulations. After completing the support, report the results to the Provincial Mobilization Committee.

PV:So what solutions does the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee have to properly coordinate and direct volunteer resources to the right goals and contribute to local development after natural disasters?

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hung:It is important to understand that emergency relief is only one part of the solution chain to support people after natural disasters. The core issue is to restore livelihoods, essential infrastructure and create internal strength for people to proactively strive to stabilize their lives.

In the coming time, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee will continue to coordinate with units and organizations to implement livelihood projects, support loans, donate seeds, build flood-proof houses, repair schools, essential infrastructure... These activities not only help people escape poverty, but more deeply encourage the spirit of self-reliance, arouse the will to rise up and create a foundation for sustainable recovery after natural disasters.

Volunteer activities in general, and activities related to storm No. 3 in particular, if not properly regulated, can cause undesirable things. When people get used to receiving support without proactively stepping up, volunteer activities weaken the community's internal strength. Or support for the wrong subjects or forms makes people lose faith, affecting those who do genuine charity.

We always emphasize the view that charity needs to go to the right place, be implemented properly, and be given to the right people. The Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels has seriously publicized relief information and support sources on mass media continuously and transparently, identified each specific damaged household, appropriate type of support, and worked directly with volunteer groups to jointly develop effective support plans.

PV: Thank you very much, comrade!