VN attends South-South development expo

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam attended the South-South Development Exposition at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland from Nov. 22-26.

Attracting over 60 delegations from the ILO member countries, the event would be a venue for developing countries and their partners including donor agencies and international organisations to showcase achievements in their South-South development cooperation.

Seminars on social welfare, sustainable employment, food security, climate change, environment, HIV/AIDS, global health and education were also held.

At a seminar on social welfare and sustainable employment, the delegates called for more proper social policies to tackle major challenges in alarming rate of unemployment, child labour, gender inequality, unsafe working conditions and unstable income.

Speaking at the seminar, Nguyen Thi Lan Huong, head of the Institute of Labour, Science and Social Affairs presented initiatives towards the implementation of Social Welfare Strategy in 2011-2020 in Vietnam.

The initiatives prioritises the poor, people living in disadvantaged areas, ethnic minorities, the unemployed, the disabled, the children, the elderly and disaster victims, helping them live above the poverty line, enjoy benefits of social welfare policies and socio-political stability./.

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Science, social welfare contributions hailed in annual awards

HA NOI — Three groups and five individuals have been recognised for their outstanding contributions to society in the fields of applied science and technology, and social welfare at the 8th annual KOVA Awards.

Former Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh handed out the awards in a ceremony yesterday.

In the field of applied science and technology, the award went to farmers Thach Van Nhon, Nguyen Van Hung and Pham Van Lieu for their research and construction of 210 drawbridges in the Cuu Long Delta region. Their drawbridges have replaced dangerous bridges built from trunks and made travel more convenient and safer for the region's residents, especially children.

Staff of the Ha Noi Safe Food Research and Application Centre received the award for their project on applying bio-energy in agricultural production and community health protection.

Two individual awards went to Doctor Le Phi Long at the Thai Nguyen Medical and Pharmaceutical University for his research project on applying micro-surgery techniques to reconnect severed hands and fingers that were lost in work-related accidents; and engineer Pham Van Hung of My Tho Town, Tien Giang Province, for his research project and manufacturing of farming machines with an aim to increase productivity and reduce agriculture-related expenses.

Group awards for outstanding contributions to society went to the Phuong Huy Construction Group whose staff are invalids and Agent Orange victims who united to overcome life's difficulties.

Individual winners of the outstanding contribution to society prize were Nguyen Dieu of Quang Binh Province who campaigned relentlessly against backward customs; teacher Nguyen Thi Nguyet of Hoa Binh Primary School in Quang Ninh Province who has dedicated her life to educating the area's minority students; and Nguyen Thi Kiem, chairwoman of the Quang Phuc Commune Women's Union in Quang Binh Province, for her contributions to the population and family planning movement.

The KOVA Award Committee also presented awards to nine excellent students and granted scholarships to 40 talented low-income students currently studying at several universities nationwide.

Funded by the KOVA Paint Manufacturing Group since 2002, the awards aim to encourage students, individuals and groups, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to pursue advances in the areas of science and technology, and social welfare. —VNS

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VN attends APEC human resources conference in China

A Vietnamese delegation headed by Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, the Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, is attending the APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting in Beijing , China from September 16-17.

At the two-day forum, Minister Ngan presented a speech on social welfare in coping with global crisis, through which she said the adverse impacts from the global financial crisis have made nations aware of the role, significance and capacity of the social welfare network during economic development.

Considerling the reality in economies, the conference should look more comprehensively at the issues, learn from others and creatively apply policies in line with the development level, capacity and characteristics of each economy, she said.

She pointed to the need to set up a comprehensive, proactive and flexible socio-economic policy system where the State holds the key role in managing and implementing social welfare policies while expanding the participation of social partners.

When addressing the opening ceremony, Chinese President Hu Jintao spoke of four proposals, including prioritising human and natural resources, bettering policies on employment, and the social welfare network and improving the quality of workforce./.

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