Nghe An attends International Conference on Foreign Non-Governmental Work

The conference was attended by 800 invited delegates from foreign non-governmental organizations operating in Vietnam, including ministries, branches, People's Committees of provinces/cities, representatives of foreign non-governmental focal agencies of provinces and cities, a number of Vietnamese people's organizations and non-governmental organizations; bilateral and multilateral development cooperation agencies; a number of embassies; foreign enterprises... On the side of Nghe An province, there were representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the Union of Friendship Organizations attending the conference.

Conference scene.

The conference includes the opening and closing sessions and 06 thematic workshops discussing key areas such as: Education and training and Vocational education; Health; Cooperation between foreign NGOs and businesses for sustainable development in Vietnam; Solving social issues, overcoming the consequences of war; Environment, climate change response, natural disaster prevention and emergency relief; Socio-economic development and poverty reduction.

The conference aimed to evaluate the cooperation between Vietnam and foreign NGOs in the 2014-2019 period, and to share information and lessons learned during the cooperation process.

Speaking at the opening session, Mr. Bui Thanh Son - Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam highly appreciated the results of cooperation activities between Vietnam and foreign NGOs. According to the data of the NGO Aid Coordination Board, the number of NGOs increased from 465 in 2014 to 507 in 2019. The value of NGO aid in the period 2014 - 2018 was 1.47 billion USD, focusing on the fields of health, socio-economic development and social and environmental issues.

In Nghe An province alone, there are 20 programs, projects and 11 non-projects implemented in the province with a total committed aid capital of 4,534,251.15 USD, an increase of 1.18 times compared to 2018 (committed aid capital is 3,821,484 USD). Currently, there are 58 organizations with Nghe An location in their registration of operation, 5 organizations are waiting for additional operating locations in Nghe An. The work of mobilizing and managing aid from foreign non-governmental organizations in Nghe An is carried out strictly, effectively, and in accordance with the provisions of law.

In general, the cooperation between Vietnam and foreign NGOs in recent times has become increasingly close and equal, from the central level to the grassroots level, to the beneficiaries. This is also a prerequisite for success in cooperation and project effectiveness. Foreign NGOs have contributed, along with the efforts of the Vietnamese Government and people, to promote poverty reduction and sustainable development, and have been highly appreciated by the Government, authorities at all levels, the Vietnamese people as well as the international community. Vietnam has also been making efforts to create favorable conditions for foreign NGOs to operate in Vietnam.

Mr. Bui Thanh Son - Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and Mr. Phan Thanh Son - Head of Paccom Coordination Board chaired the conference.

In addition to the achieved results, the cooperation between Vietnam and foreign non-governmental organizations also revealed some limitations such as: The Decree replacing Decree 12, Decree 83 amending and supplementing is a bit long; procedures for issuing new ones, extending and supplementing registration certificates, project approval procedures... are still slow; some sectors and localities have not paid full attention to advocacy work and have not proactively built long-term programs; information on needs by field and locality is still lacking and untimely,...

In the coming time, it is necessary to seriously, synchronously and effectively implement the national program on strengthening cooperation and mobilizing foreign non-governmental aid for the 2019-2025 period according to Decision No. 1225/QD-TTg dated September 17, 2019 of the Prime Minister.

In addition, the Conference also provided delegates with perspectives on cooperation between Vietnam and foreign NGOs from localities, foreign NGOs, people's organizations in Vietnam and development partners.