Vietnam
In 1990, Save the Children received an unprecedented invitation from the Government of Vietnam to help address widespread child malnutrition. The result was a groundbreaking effort pioneering the Positive Deviance approach — discovering, learning from and promoting the practices of poor families whose children were thriving while children of other families with access to the same resources and environment were not. Positive Deviance not only became a hallmark of our work in Vietnam, but also the model we use to address children’s malnutrition in other countries. From this foundation, Save the Children broadened its focus. Today, we work in 10 Vietnamese provinces, reaching youth and local communities in rural and urban areas.
Challenges for Children
Nearly 24 million people in Vietnam live in poverty, 95 percent of them in rural areas. Maternal and child mortality are dramatically higher among poor and ethnic populations, with infant mortality rates in remote regions nearly eight times greater than in cities. While Vietnamese society values education — over 85 percent of children attend lower secondary school — there is a key gap in the availability of early childhood development services for children under 6 years of age, especially among ethnic minorities. HIV/AIDS is also becoming a serious development challenge. An estimated 300,000 children are affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including children with HIV-positive parents and those orphaned by AIDS.
Numbers at a Glance
- The population of Vietnam is 85 million.
- Some 61 percent of the country's ethnic population lives below the poverty line.
- Malnutrition affects 25 percent of children under age 5.
- Neonatal deaths account for nearly 75 percent of all infant deaths
Our Response
Health and Nutrition:
Through health initiatives in four provinces, we work to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality by building the technical skills of health staff, strengthening health referral systems and improving the quality of care at health facilities. Save the Children also promotes healthy and life-saving practices at the community level through local media and awareness-raising campaigns. Save the Children is a leader in working at the national level to advocate and strengthen policies and guidelines for newborn health and child nutrition.
Early Childhood Development: Save the Children uses child-friendly, community-based approaches to help poor children learn. Throughout mountainous villages in central Vietnam, our programs nurture young children’s growth and development and prepare them to enter primary school. We also support their communities and families with teacher training and parenting classes with the goal of ensuring that young children receive the best possible care in their formative years. Save the Children’s education program prepares disadvantaged girls and boys, particularly ethnic minority children, for primary school by building their cognitive and pre-literacy skills. We also work at the national level by promoting parent-child reading and supporting writing competitions.
HIV/AIDS and Youth Health: As the risk of HIV infection steadily increases among youth in Vietnam, Save the Children is targeting HIV prevention programming to the 15-24 age group. Sexual and reproductive health interventions seek to improve youths' knowledge and attitudes, foster a supportive social environment and create youth-oriented health services. Save the Children encourages young men both in school and in street-based settings to adopt practices that can reduce their risk of acquiring HIV through a combination of peer education clubs, outreach activities and male role models. Save the Children also works with the Ministry of Health in developing national guidelines for improving youths’ access to "youth-friendly" reproductive health services.
Economic Opportunities: Many poor Vietnamese women do not have access to the financial services they need to establish livelihoods and better meet their children’s basic needs. Save the Children’s two microfinance partners — one in rural Thanh Hoa Province and one in urban Hanoi — offer small loans to groups of women who guarantee each others’ loans in lieu of formal collateral. Our microfinance programs began in 1998 and now serve over 10,000 clients, 99 percent of whom are women. They use loans for farming, animal husbandry, to make fishing nets and bamboo products and for scrap metal trading. Save the Children is also a key advocate for microfinance development in Vietnam through our leadership role in a national microfinance working group.
Emergency Preparedness and Response: Vietnam is especially vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters, which often have serious consequences for children’s well-being. Save the Children regularly responds with immediate relief and assistance to children and families when their communities are affected by typhoons and flooding. Save the Children also works with local authorities and communities in disaster-prone areas on how to better prepare and protect themselves in times of emergency, placing a special emphasis on the needs of children both during and after the crisis.
Plans for the Future
Save the Children will continue to expand community-based activities that contribute to improved health, education, HIV/AIDS awareness and economic opportunities for Vietnamese children and their families. We will also continue to work with other organizations to use our evidence-based experience to advocate for children.
Initiatives include:- Reaching underserved communities, particularly in remote and mountainous areas, to strengthen newborn survival and care.
- Conducting province-wide activities to improve the quality of public health facilities in three provinces across the country.
- Promoting protective practices to reduce HIV infection among young urban men.
- Implementing early childhood development activities to help ethnic minority children learn and develop to their full potential.
- Providing our microfinance partners with technical assistance and training so they become registered microfinance institutions.
- Working with communities to plan and prepare for natural disasters, with particular focus on the safety and protection of children.
Hoang is a young man eager to make a difference. A recent graduate of the Maritime University in Hai Phong, Hoang is an active volunteer in this busy port city in northern Vietnam, where he works to raise HIV/AIDS awareness and leads activities focused on prevention.
Hoang understands the many risks facing young men in Hai Phong. "University students here are up against positive and negative social influences," he says. "The city of Hai Phong has seen much economic development, but this has also brought social problems. Hai Phong is the third largest area for HIV infections in Vietnam." The university prepares its mostly male students for maritime careers in Vietnam and around the world. Such young men are among the groups at high risk for contracting HIV.
Save the Children is working with the Hai Phong provincial health department to change social norms around sexual practices, equipping these young men with the understanding and skills they need to make healthier decisions to avoid HIV/AIDS. Social clubs, counseling and media events encourage them to refrain from risky behaviors which may lead to HIV infections.
Hoang is excited to share what he has learned with others as they prepare for productive lives and careers. "HIV prevention is an important issue that male students in Vietnam need to know about. I hope to do my part in helping other students know how to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS," says Hoang.
