tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61453176823162254372024-03-07T17:36:00.386+07:00UNICEF Viet NamAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-53629860085780141002017-12-06T10:22:00.000+07:002018-06-19T10:11:53.617+07:00Viet Nam establishes its first National Committee on Children to advance child rights across government agencies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>An op-ed by Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam about Viet Nam establishes its first National Committee on Children to advance child rights across government agencies</i></div>
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One of the most important milestones for children’s rights is achieved in Viet Nam with the establishment of the first National Committee on Children chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister. The Committee will play an instrumental role in creating a new pathway on child rights implementation and to ensure that “no child is left behind” in the pursuit of sustaining progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.<br />
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The National Committee for Children is a cross-governmental coordination mechanism on children’s rights that brings together all Ministries and comprises the Ministers of MOLISA, MOET and MOH as Vice Chairs. <br />
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The National Committee for Children will offer an important mechanism to support Viet Nam to discharge its duties for State party reporting on the implementation of children’s rights. Viet Nam has obligations to fulfill through the reporting on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as international human rights treaties and conventions that Viet Nam has ratified including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Universal Periodic Review process.<br />
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Viet Nam has undertaken significant legal reform in recent years. Indeed, the Constitution, which was approved by the National Assembly in 2013, has a chapter on human rights with a specific provision on children’s rights and the role of the State in ensuring the protection of children. Importantly, the recently enacted Law on Children further articulates these Constitutional provisions by providing the legal framework for fulfilling the rights of all children in Viet Nam with greater alignment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.<br />
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Given the cross-sectoral nature of the Law on Children, the National Committee for Children is well placed to provide concrete guidance on its implementation, ensuring all relevant ministries are engaged in and accountable for its implementation, as well as ensure its alignment with international children’s rights standards. To this end UNICEF continues to advocate for rectifying the definition of the age of the child to include all children under 18. <br />
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The Committee can also play a crucial role in ensuring sufficient government resources are allocated and collection of data to implement child rights as guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Law on Children itself. While Viet Nam has made steady progress to reduce poverty, increase school enrolment, and lower child mortality, there is still a considerable unfinished agenda that require concerted efforts and dedicated attention from all line ministries. <br />
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Data on children (under 18 years) in Viet Nam remains fragmented and with many gaps – creating enormous challenges for the development and implementation of policies and programmes for children. It also challenges Viet Nam’s human rights and Sustainable Development Goals monitoring and reporting obligations. UNICEF has played an important role in supporting the Government to conduct five Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) over the past 18 years and the Committee offers a prime opportunity to lead the incorporation of MICS into routine national data collection processes.<br />
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Across the world there is extensive and compelling evidence that the early moments of the life of a child offer an unparalleled opportunity to build the brains of the children that is vital for Viet Nam’s economic growth and competitiveness in the regional and global economy. But far too often, it is an opportunity squandered, leaving the country with young workforce with poor health, less skills and reduced earning potential. The Committee can be transformative for the lives of every child in Viet Nam by bringing line Ministries and partners together to break the intergenerational cycles of poverty and disparities, whilst also propelling Viet Nam towards achieving its objective to become a 21st century economy.<br />
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Ensuring that <i><b>“no child is left behind” </b></i>requires that breakthrough solutions are created to fast track the process towards inclusive and sustainable development for all. UNICEF is honoured to be a key partner of Viet Nam and its partners in the realisation of child rights. UNICEF stands ready to work closely with the National Committee for Children as a specialist advisory body to the Committee, in line with our role mandated under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, providing our national, regional and international expertise and experience across the full spectrum of children’s rights.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-36487056250501252092017-06-19T17:48:00.000+07:002017-06-20T11:21:42.384+07:00Harsh punishment for child offenders doesn’t prevent further criminalityThe age at which a child, can be held criminally liable is a controversial issue around the world. Within Viet Nam, this issue is currently being grappled with in the Penal Code amendments. Some argue that a “get tough on crime” approach is necessary to punish children to prevent further criminality.<br />
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However, international research shows that because of their developmental stages, labelling and treating children as criminals at an early age can have serious negative impacts on their development and successful rehabilitation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><i>A teenage boy in conflict with the law in Dong Thap, was arrested for several small misdemeanors and petty theft. UNICEF and social worker help him to reintegrated to his community and became an active member of the youth club at his village.</i><br />
Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2015\Truong Viet Hung</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>Proposals to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility are not in line with scientific evidence that a child’s brain is structurally and functionally immature, which influences decision-making and increases their tendency to engage in risky behaviors during adolescence. Science has also shown that children are more likely to “grow out” of such behavior.<br />
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If they can be influenced into committing crime by ill-intentioned groups, it is also true that children have the formidable capacity to be influenced to do good if they are offered a proper rehabilitation programme instead of being given harsh punishment.<br />
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Viet Nam has been a child rights pioneer for over 25 years and the recent implementation of the Child Law is a major step forward. This law enhances children’s rights by focusing on their best interests and protection. Further, new amendments to the Penal Code seek to ensure stronger measures to divert juveniles away from the criminal justice system; to provide alternatives and stronger limits to the detention of juveniles; and to provide stronger protections against various forms of violence against minors. <br />
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In light of these positive child rights advancements, amendments to the Penal Code decreasing the minimum age of criminal responsibility for certain crimes can be seen as a major step back in the protection of children’s rights. <br />
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International standards require all States to establish and set a single age below which a child cannot have the legal capacity to infringe the penal law. The Committee on the Rights of the Child strongly recommends that an appropriate age for criminal responsibility is between 14 and 16 years. Currently, Vietnam is one of the few East Asian and Pacific countries in line with this recommendation. The Vietnamese law has a tiered minimum age of criminal responsibility in which all children above 16 years can be held liable for infringing the penal law, and those between 14 and 16 can also be held liable for certain types of offences. <br />
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The propensity of children to offending is heavily influenced by factors such as the child’s family, school, or community where children are exposed to risky behaviors. Evidence indicates that “getting tough” or “scaring” children out of misbehavior always fails, as this approach does not address the underlying causes of their behavior. Indeed, detention of children merely exposes them to more negative behavior and generally pushes them further into a criminal lifestyle. <br />
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As the evidence suggest that incarcerating children is not effective in rehabilitation and prevention of future offending, laws should not be made harsher. As adolescence is a time when children can be influenced for the better or worse, rehabilitation and reintegration must be the main goal.<br />
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UNICEF is calling for amendments to the Penal Code which do not widen the net of child offenders who bear criminal responsibility and in essence amounts to a lower age of criminal responsibility. Children aged 14-16 years should only bear criminal responsibility for the 28 listed very serious and extremely serious crimes. We are confident that Viet Nam will pursue a more holistic solution to child offending which does not criminalise children, but rather focuses on addressing the root causes of the children’s behaviour. This approach encourages children to take responsibility for their actions, and provides them with proper rehabilitation services that facilitate their reintegration as productive members of society. <br />
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<i>Op-Ed – Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility </i><br />
<b>By Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam</b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-74941906755404688392017-01-20T15:26:00.000+07:002017-01-20T16:51:24.303+07:00For the golden opportunity not to be missed - Trinh Hong Son’s Journey to Kon Tum<br />
<i>With more than 20 years working in nutrition and communication behaviour change, I have had the opportunity to work within many communities and examine different cultures and characteristics. My experiences have also taught me that much effort, time and shared sympathy is needed to change an entrenched habit. As a member of UNICEF’s emergency response programme team, I am utilizing this knowledge to help benefit the 10 provinces, in the Central Highlands, South Central and Mekong Delta regions, affected by the worst cases of drought and salt water intrusion in decades.</i><br />
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I have visited the Central Highlands numerous times during the course of my work. That day, as a graduate, l felt something new and strange, which only enthusiasm and youth could overcome the inadequacy of experience and knowledge. As with the lyrics of Nguyen Cuong’s famous song, “Just so close, just so far”, the people of the Central Highlands always welcome you with a gentle smile. More often than not they are carrying huge baskets filled with agricultural products and sometimes a baby sleeping on its mother’s back. It is hard to forget the immense expanses of green, with rubber forests, white coffee flowers and especially the red soil of the Highlands which create a very specific signature of the land and people. </div>
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My work with UNICEF has taken me back to the Central Highlands, which since 2015 has been suffering the most severe drought in the past 20 years. While there is still evidence of the arid land and water shortages, green tinges are returning to the hillsides. One afternoon under a blue sky in Kon Tum province, I again caught that gentle smile that is a feature of Central Highlands people. But different to visits in past years, this time their baskets aren’t heavy with agricultural produce, but I still saw many mothers with children sleeping on the backs. Their gentle eyes were often filled with anxiety due to the ongoing consequences of historic drought.</div>
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Having been in the nutrition field for many years, I understand the consequences of drought cannot be solved immediately. The green fruit can quickly return to the Highlands once the first rains come, but there are development opportunities for children that only come at certain stages of human life. Venturing around the province only strengthened my resolve that all children from this gentle land should not miss these golden opportunities that come with early childhood development years.</div>
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The province was aware of this threat when, on 16 March 2016, its People’s Committee announced a risk level one drought. UNICEF’s emergency response programme to support vulnerable people was initiated soon after the Government provided VND17.6 billion (US$784,000) for Kon Tum to cope with state of emergency. Dak To Kan is one of a number of communes UNICEF works in as part of the emergency response in Kon Tum province. Being a mountainous commune in Tu Mo Rong district, Dak To Kan is located approximately 65 kilometres to the north of Kon Tum province , with a population of 3,315 mostly Xe Dang ethnic minority people spread across 624 households.</div>
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A commune health worker took me to visit Mrs. Y Po’s family, located in Dak H Nang village. There are three children in her family, with the first daughter 4 years old and twins A Ti and A Ty born in February this year.<br />
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As a result of UNICEF’s emergency response, A Ti was identified as having moderate acute malnutrition, while the youngest A Ty was detected as having severe acute malnutrition after screening on 30 August 2016. Y Po’s family is in a difficult situation. Her husband must work all year round with cassava crops, although it has never been sufficient to feed the whole family. Life has become even tougher as the prolonged drought has seen crop yields plummet. At the moment, her family is still in debt by VND5 million (US$223), a large amount to repay. Y Po confided in me that it was unlikely this year’s cassava crops could help her repay her debt and buy food for the children.</div>
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I understood that with the fluctuating weather conditions, it was extremely difficult for Y Po and her husband to work the crops and take care of their children at the same time. </div>
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Spending most of her time taking care of her malnourished children, Y Po has no time to work. Thankfully nearly four months of continuous use of nutrition supplies supported by UNICEF and the Government of Japan has seen her second son Y Ty recover from severe acute malnutrition. Under dedicated guidance from medical staff, Y Po now knows how to use nutrition supplies for her child. </div>
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Knowing her children are gaining weight and getting rid of severe acute malnutrition, her eyes lit up with joy when she said: “I hope my children grow up healthy and I will try to bring my children to school so that they will not be poor like me”. I’m am also looking forward to a brighter future for her children. The whole social system is involved, bringing her simple desire closer to reality. It warmed my heart to see her eyes filed with love watching her sleeping baby still sucking her breast milk, her hands gently supporting her breast to give her baby every precious drop of milk with love and care.</div>
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Saying goodbye to Y Po’s family, the commune health worker took me to another family. Seen from the outside, the Y Thoat family house looked spacious compared to the surrounding houses. </div>
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Entering the house, I noticed the family was not as poor as Y Po’s, surrounded a dozen sacks of rice and a television.<br />
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A Loc is her only son. At home to care for the child, she noticed her son was a little thinner than other children. This timely detection opened the door for UNICEF’s emergency response programme to provide nutrition supplies to address this case of severe acute malnutrition. </div>
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Y Thoat shared with us: “I want my child to stay healthy and grow up and learn well so he can be a doctor to cure the sick people,” said Y Thoat.<br />
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“I am grateful for the hard work from doctors and I will be a better parent in the future thanks to Y Ngui (commune health worker). Now I understand my child was malnourished because I didn’t know how to feed him properly, I even think that other poorer families’ children grew up more healthy because they were blessed by god” she said.<br />
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I felt truly grateful to Y Thoat for her sincere appreciation of the village health workers, as I understood her as well as Y Po’s and other children in the Central Highlands will not miss on the golden opportunity to grow and flourish because of village health workers like Ms. Y Ngui. </div>
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She remembers the name of each child and considers Y Thoat as a family member. Another commune health worker, Ms Y Thuyen, does similiar meaningful work in La Don village, Dak Ro Ong commune, Tu Mo Rong district. Although Y Thuyen works each day on low wages, she brings enthusiasm to her work and feels responsible for the children she visits and enthusiastically guides Xe Dang ethnic minority mothers. <br />
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“I really love the children in the village and feel really heart-broken to see them malnourished. Thus, I will always work with mothers to care for children’s nutrition,” said Y Thuyen.<br />
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Despite limited communication skills, commune health workers sincerely care for mothers and use local ethnic minority language to contribute to a better future of their respective communities.<br />
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Leaving Kon Tum I know the verdant forests will return to the province as will those friendly smiles and children’s eyes will again brighten.</div>
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<a href="http://un.org.vn/images/Final_Kon_Tum_HIS_Eng.pdf" target="_blank"><b>Download and read the full story here</b></a></div>
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<i><b>Story by Trinh Hong Son and Truong Viet Hung</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Photo by Truong Viet Hung</b></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-90778305930593781552017-01-18T14:20:00.000+07:002017-01-19T09:18:33.304+07:00Climate change lives - Viet’s journey to Ben Tre<i>My name is Vu Xuan Viet, UNICEF Viet Nam WASH Specialist working in the UNICEF Emergency Programme . I have been with UNICEF for four months, which means I am a newcomer here. Emergency work is sometimes very challenging and stressful. Everything was new to me at the start, but the longer I work here the more I love my work.</i><br />
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As part of UNICEF’s on-going emergency response to a severe drought in 10 affected provinces in the South Central, Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions of Viet Nam, I recently (November 9-10) went on a field trip to Ben Tre to visit three communes (Ba Tri, Giong Trom and Mo Cay Bac) impacted by drought and salt water intrusion as well as forecasted to be greatly impacted by climate change in the future.<br />
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Truong Viet Hung, the trip photographer and long-time member of UNICEF’s Viet Nam Communications Section, accompanied me on my journey south. The purpose of our trip to Ben Tre was to discover how the drought and salt water intrusion had affected the livelihoods of people and children in this Mekong Delta province. Before departure, we held in-depth discussions about our respective roles on how best we can work together to collect the most relevant stories and images for our mission.<br />
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We started our journey with a small concern our scheduled visits could overlap with school hours, which would hinder our ability to talk with children in selected households. Luckily we finally found a solution by deciding to engage them over lunch and stay later in the afternoon to meet and listen to children’s experiences.<br />
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The following stories are first-hand accounts from children and their families describing their day-to-day lives and challenges to overcome this significant natural disaster and learn how to adapt and accept climate change will continue to have great impacts on this land.<br />
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<b>LITTLE KHA’S STORY</b><br />
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Upon arrival in Ben Tre we met Pham Thi Hong Xuyen, Chairwoman of the commune Women’s Union in Giong Trom district, who took us to visit the household of an elderly lady. Aged 72 years, Tran Thi Quyen still looks healthy despite a hard life full of worries about her family. She took us on a walk through her My An hamlet in Long My commune along a canal passing through a garden and fish ponds as well as a small open air toilet. Crossing a small bridge to her house, Quyen looked up at the coconut trees and said: “This year, we suffered big losses with our coconuts. Salt water intrusion has made the coconut fruit very small and easily fall from the trees. I feed the fallen ones to chickens. In previous years, we could harvest about 100 coconuts a month, but this year we harvest 100 in three months and the dealers only pay VND 80,000 (US$3.5) per dozen. This year they boycotted the small coconuts, which has made our lives more difficult”. I responded by asking if she had sufficient clean water during the drought and salt water intrusion. She pointed her finger to the neighbour and said: “The drought and salt water intrusion this year was longer than past years. We didn’t have enough clean water and I have been forced to ask my kind neighbours for help in sharing their clean water and they kindly accepted. I tried my best to save the clean water that we have and I have had to collect rain water in buckets from my fibro cement roof. But by February this year, we had totally run out of rain water. Our family’s daily meals depend on my grandson finding river prawns and fish. But since the long drought and salt water intrusion, his luck has run out and he catches very little - not even half a kilo. The truth is if this natural disaster continuess, we would rather die”. In a sorrowful voice she continued: “Our lemon business is also failing. Now, we only get VND1,000/kg (US 10 cents) as the saltwater has made our lemons yellow and bitter. Nobody wants to buy them. In the past, we could sell for VND10,000-15,000/kg - but now it is impossible.”<br />
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Quyen lives with her 34-year-old nephew Dien and his nine-year-old son, Tran Van Kha. The boy lost his mother when he was aged four. Kha and his father were raised by Quyen since they were small kids. She feels for Kha: “The boy lost his mother early. Since then he has become quieter and doesn’t want to talk with strangers. He only plays with kids in our neighbourhood. Though he is a good boy, he’s very shy and afraid of the dark. Every night before bed Kha wants to go to the toilet and I take him to the one in my garden. It’s very dangerous for him to go there alone, if he misses a step he would fall into the pond.” Kha always sleeps with Quyen and often says: “I want to learn well in school so when I grow up, I can become a police officer and give you and dad all my salary to help our family.”<br />
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Eventually, when we met Kha he spoke few words when asked about his life, learning and dreams. The loss had affected him deeply. Even Dien could not get him to leave his shell. “The boy really loves me and his great grandmother. He is doing better at school this year compared to the past. The teacher told me that he learnt very quickly, but was forgetful. He is now in Grade 3 and already knows how to type with a computer. He told me that he loves to learn about computers and gets excited in IT class. He even shared his dream to one day have enough money to buy a computer!”<br />
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This is a dream of many kids, but is unlikely to come true for Kha. Next year, drought and saltwater intrusion will likely return to his hometown, bringing with it daily challenges for Kha and his family to earn a living and to send him to school. Kha and his family’s situation is why UNICEF’s Emergency Respond Programme is working to improve water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in Ben Tre and other provinces.<br />
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It was difficult to leave Kha and his family after hearing their story. Hopefully a smile will return to Kha’s face in the future and his little dream will come true.<br />
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<b>A BOAT TO NOWHERE</b><br />
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Next stop was the household of Nguyen Van Linh. The 40-year-old has a determined face, but perhaps his struggle to take care of his family has made him look older than his age. He is considered a hard-working man in Tan Phong 2 hamlet, Thanh Tan commune where he lives with his children and family. Early this year, his family welcomed good news. A coconut company from Malaysia had provided a small amount of capital to allow Linh to rebuild his house from bricks.<br />
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He was busy transporting construction materials for the house together with his close relatives when we arrived. Linh said he really wanted to build the house with his own hands, which he and his wife have dreamed about. It was also a good way to save costs during this difficult time caused by the drought and saltwater intrusion crisis this year. Ranked by his hamlet and commune authority as a poor household, he and his wife have struggled to survive from this historic disaster since late 2015. Linh and his wife Hoang Anh had inherited about 1,000 square metres of agricultural land from their parents. But, there was almost nothing left on their land as the paddy rice crop was unable to tolerate saltwater. Instead, Linh decided to focus on fishing. However, this year it got harder and harder to catch fish from the nearby Hau River. His small fishing boat was often trapped due to lower floodwaters than normal. Without floodwater, the main livelihood for himself and his family has become unstable. Despite this obstacle, Linh and his wife stood firm to overcome the challenge. During the peak period of drought and saltwater intrusion, they decided to take out a loan of VND 30 million from the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development to buy two cows, plant coconuts and raise poultry in their small garden. <br />
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Linh took us around his new house. His pride was obvious when he pointed to a new latrine for the household, just nearby. He said his family had never had a safe and clean toilet before and this had made it hard for his wife and children to practice safe personal hygiene and sanitation. His three-year-old daughter often became sick due to poor sanitation. Upon deciding to rebuild the house, he decided that building the latrine was his first priority. His daughter, is the youngest family member. She appeared intelligent and active. “I built this house to have a proper shelter for the kids. My wife and I have got used to this difficult situation,” he said. “It was my mistake not to make the steps from the house foundation, my daughter slipped and fell. She has had a fever for a few days already. I will definitely make the steps so she will not fall again”.</div>
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Although enduring a hard life, Linh’s family has benefited from warm support from their neighbours. During the recent natural disaster, they shared food and water with their children when Linh and his wife returned from fishing trips. Linh took us to the Hau River to graphically illustrate how the drought had affected him. There his fishing boat sat marooned in the mud. “This boat has been so important to get food for my family and for previous generations. No matter how difficult it is, I will keep it and go fishing. When it is trapped, I will try other ways to take care of my family”. His hands continued to rearrange the fishing nets as he talked. Worry lines spread across his face. “Each year I can only catch fish for a few months, from November to April. If the drought and saltwater intrusion happens again, it will be extremely difficult for us.” <br />
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Silent for a while, Linh recalled days when he and his wife left their hometown to work as paid labourers in a textile company in Ho Chi Minh City. They usually worked overtime, but their low wage was insufficient to make ends meet. “In those years when we migrated from Ben Tre, I had my parents in law to take care of my first son. But even that would not put our minds at ease”. When his wife gave birth to Hoang Anh, they decided not to migrate for work and instead settled down in his homeland to take better care of the children. For them, children are the best treasure in life.<br />
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On the way to see us off, Linh motioned that he had something to tell us, but finally kept it to himself. We left feeling hopeful that their beautiful children will be a foundation and motivation for Linh and his wife and that they will soon find ways to get their boat back into the river to build a better future for their children.<br />
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<a href="http://www.un.org.vn/images/Final_Ben_tre_HIS_eng-opt.pdf" target="_blank"><b>Download and read the full story here</b></a><br />
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<b><i>Written by Vu Xuan Viet and Truong Viet Hung</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Photo by Truong Viet Hung</i></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-89730682869795781382017-01-17T11:17:00.000+07:002017-01-17T11:18:11.810+07:00The Journey of Young Makers<i>This is the journey of a young mechatronic engineer who is the founder of Joint Rehabilitation Device project (JRD), Pham Nhat Tan, 23, who specialized in Mechatronics Engineering at Bach Khoa University in Ho Chi Minh City. </i><br />
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Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary field of science that combines mechanical engineering, electronics, computers, telecommunications, systems and control engineering. Tan is a fresh graduate student, having a passion for robotics and in love with machines having their own behaviour to support human’s lives. How they work, how to make them work hooked him.<br />
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Tan loves to challenge himself with new things and enjoys the sweet result that it brings to him after he conquers his successes or make him stronger anytime he fails. When Tan sees children with disabilities, it breaks his heart and it became a strong motivation for him to invent devices that help those kids to overcome their problems and difficulties in life.<br />
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Tan wishes to make his personal story become his team’s story, so “I” can become “We”. “I’m going to share our story in the simplest way so that everyone can understand the good cause of our project and join us to help the vulnerable groups in Viet Nam”. Pham Nhat Tan humbly said.<br />
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The JRD group started as a research project turned into a start-up business. But to achieve their ultimate goals, they must adapt to be profitable and join the business world. But they want to show everyone that they are not just in for profits but they are also a social-based business too. They create good social value for the societies, especially children with disabilities. By understanding their mission clearly and committing to their core values they believe that profit will come to their business soon once their good core values shine.<br />
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“As a researcher, I see the world today full of solutions for disabilities, many of them still on paper. The world is driven by profitable businesses and profit is always the first priority, therefore it will slow down the creation for the disabilities. My instinct told me that I need to join the group of people who want to change the world, the ones who can change this sad reality. So I want to connect all robotic technology in the research world to help children and people with disabilities live a normal life and make their normal dream come true. That’s why this project is born and developed as today”.<br />
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Back in June, the JRD took part in the UNICEF and Partners (U.S. Consulate General in HCMC, the Israeli Trade Mission to Vietnam, UNICEF, DRD, Fablab Saigon, and Vietnam-German University) supported three-day Make-a-thon, TOM Viet Nam for children with disabilities. It has given JRD and other groups the opportunity to expose to an open environment where they can find more chances to make their research paper transform into a real physical prototype. During the event, JRD met with other teams of technical experts, who have the same dream and passion for robotics. They came to the events, shared their ideas, experiences and knowledge among themselves, and sometimes they even helped each other to overcome technical issues.<br />
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After TOM Viet Nam, JRD continued to participate in Hatch Fair 2016 - Social Innovation Camp. Hatch Fair 2016 aims at discovering and developing scientific and technological innovations, turning them into sustainable solutions for issues in the field of environment, health, culture, education, and more. The teams with most potential products will continue to be supported, incubated, and funded towards sustainable start-ups and business. In 2016, the competition is organized nationwide in three big cities: Ha Noi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City. JRD product has captured good attention from potential investors, visitors and the group received good advice and suggestion from technical experts and engineers on how to improve the product to fit with the market.<br />
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<h2>
<b>Challenges</b></h2>
Despite the fact that the group have many good strengths, they can’t deny that they also face many challenges that might become a great threat to dismiss their project. Tan worries that all team members having their own commitments and jobs means they might not have much time to meet and continue the project in high commitment mode. Everyone need to get a decent job and get well paid for their living, therefore the group could not focus on completing their prototype as planned. Lack of direction is also a big worry of the group as the prototype has to be tested on real patients and they must adapt its function based on the doctor’s advice in order to fit the patient’s needs. However, the team only have permission to test their product with the need knower, Lieu Hoai An. They don’t have a committed doctor who can provide medical advice for their product.<br />
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Aside from that, many team members don’t get support from their family to this project and it became a great source of pressure.<br />
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<h2>
<b>Support Needed</b></h2>
JRD’s plan is to complete the first prototype by mid-2017 and pretest in hospital and physical therapy centres. In order for JRD to keep their plan, they really need financial support from big international agencies, INGO, business, hospitals, and investors. They would like to call for support not only financially but also technical support from physical therapists, doctors, and engineers.<br />
<a href="http://un.org.vn/images/Final_JRD_Story_Eng.pdf" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="http://un.org.vn/images/Final_JRD_Story_Eng.pdf" target="_blank"><b>Read the story in PDF version here</b></a><br />
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<i>Story and photo by Truong Viet Hung</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-12908989761000253922017-01-17T09:14:00.000+07:002017-01-19T09:18:02.107+07:00Bringing local lives back to normalcy - Tran Phuong Anh’s Journey to Ninh ThuanIt did rain – a long rain! You don’t know how long we had been waiting for such rain,” recalled Cha Ma Le Thi Hem. The 29-year-old Raglei ethnic minority mother, like many in Ninh Thuan province, has struggled for the past 36 months with the consequences of a fierce drought that has gripped the South Central region province.<br />
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I first encountered Hem during a trip in late November 2016 to the province to visit Raglei community women who are heads of households in their matriarchal society. I could not help but wonder what they had been through during such times of natural adversity.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cha Ma Le Thi Hem and her malnourished little boy reflect on living with the drought. – UNICEF Photo</i></td></tr>
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“Our four-person family depends entirely on water sources. There was no water for drinking and hygienic practices. There was no water for our corn field. There was hardly any food as a result,” said Hem. Like many other locals, her family fetches water from nearby rivers and streams for daily consumption. During the drought, the streams turned dry. It was the same situation with the local reservoirs supplying water to families.<br />
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Situated on the coast of Viet Nam, Ninh Thuan is among 52 provinces affected by the ongoing El Niño-induced drought and saline intrusion. Reduced water use and consumption of unsafe water for washing, ablutions and hand-washing have resulted in increased incidences of diarrhea, dysentery, hand, foot and mouth diseases and other skin diseases. Limited access to water bores has left visible impacts on local children’s health, exacerbating the prevalence of malnutrition.<br />
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Hem knows this only too well, as both of her toddlers were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) at the same time.<br />
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“I was worried seeing them giving up on food. They threw up between and during the meals and both had diarrhea. Fever also came and went.” When mentioning food, she forgot to add their usual meals included nothing more than plain porridge. Her 24-month second boy, Cha Ma Le Phat, weighed slightly over 6 kilogrammes and prescribed by local doctors as stunted for his height.<br />
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“During the prolonged months of extreme weather conditions, we recorded a peak in malnutrition among local children, especially among Raglei ones,” said Dr. Duong Thi Ai Chan, deputy head of the Maty commune health centre, Hem’s commune in Bac Ai district. “Roughly 33.5 per cent of local children in Maty suffered from SAM during the drought period.” The total number of SAM cases detected and treated in the province exceeds 800.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pina Thi Gai stands in front of her home. Her daughter, Pina Thi May was born malnourished and has yet to recover, in large part due to the drought. – UNICEF Photo</i></td></tr>
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To make ends meet during the drought Hem, like most Raglei women, left home every day to seek work in a nearby town, often unsuccessfully.</div>
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Poverty is most visible when it is coupled with natural disaster impacts, as is the case of 20-year-old Pina Thi Gai’s 2-year-old girl Pina Thi May, malnourished from birth. When she reached the age of two a few months ago, she barely weighed 7 kilogrammes.<br />
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The Raglei community in Ninh Thuận mainly survives on agriculture and cultivation of maize, peas and pumpkins. For many, gaining an education is not a practical life choice.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Locals gather in November to receive supplies in Maty commune, Bac Ai district. The event, well attended by the community, also featured a demonstration by community workers on the usage of provided water purification sachets. Consumption of safe water has been identified as key in prevention of diseases during emergency interventions. – UNICEF Photo</i></td></tr>
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“I usually get up at 4am to prepare for the day, which normally starts with me and my husband working on a corn field a few kilometres from our house,” said Gai, who dropped out of school during primary education. “But we were out of a job during the drought for the entire year as maize was showing roots due to an absence of water. My husband would often take the bike, our prized asset aside from the bamboo makeshift house, to venture to another area to find work. He usually returned home after unsuccessful attempts.” Gai’s family makes around US$10 per month when harvest work is unavailable. “Now my wish is to return to the field for work as soon as I get up.”</div>
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<b>MULTIPLE NEEDS</b><br />
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A joint Government, United Nations and international non-governmental organization assessment in early 2016 confirmed the province’s urgent need for support, focussed on water, sanitation and hygiene, health and nutrition, and food security. With the recent onset of rain, the need for water has reduced. However, UNICEF’s emergency response to support the purification of water, provision of micro-nutrient supplements and hygiene behaviour promotion remains important. Its response strategy involves life-saving support with provision of nutrition interventions, household water treatment and safe storage, and hygiene promotion to prevent communicable diseases.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>“Va Vi Nhong Kim, aged 2 years, holds a RUTF sachet - his daily staple for nutrition enhancement as his 21-year-old mother looks on. The majority of Raglei women get married aged 18 or younger.” – UNICEF Photo</i></td></tr>
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Cha Ma Le Phat and Pina Thi May are just two of many SAM children provided with nutrition supplies in past months as part of the response. To improve local nutrition, SAM and moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) children were supplied with therapeutic food (Hebi) and Ready-to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). The taking of such supplies during the past three months has delivered dramatic results for Cha Ma Le Phat and Pina Thi May , each having gained 2 kilogrammes on average since the treatment.<br />
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“Raglei children, especially those living on mountainous terrain, responded very well to the supplied nutritional food. They eat it as a single source of nourishment or between meals,” said Huynh Thang Son, director of the provincial Centre for Reproductive Health.<br />
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Meanwhile, the number of pregnant and lactating women treated with multiple micronutrient supplements has reached 5,549 cases as a result of the response, while 13,300 children aged 6-23 months have received multiple micro-nutrient sachets for home food fortification.<br />
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<b>PURIFYING LIFE SOURCES</b><br />
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Although local people’s habit of drinking unsafe water from rivers remains an issue to tackle, the community quickly embraced the use of water purification sachets like Aquatabs. To underline the point, during a recent community event to demonstrate usage of such sachets, someone from the crowd reached for the microphone and asked: “Where can we purchase the sachets and tablets after we have used up supplies? We want to continue with this.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Practicing matriarchy, Raglei women as heads of households turn up to collect water purification supplies. – UNICEF Photo</i></td></tr>
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Nevertheless, to ensure effectiveness of emergency responses Le Hoang Son, a specialist in charge of emergency supplies from Ninh Thuan Center for Water Supply and Sanitation, said: “The challenge for us is to keep a close watch on the usage of provided items and make sure they are not shelved at home as locals go back to the old habit of using unclean water.”<br />
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As I was leaving the province, my local driver pointed at different spots along the road. “A few months ago this massive area of plants was completely brown. Trees, grass, sheep and goats could not survive the drought. Barren land was cracking like spider webs,” she said. Whilst speaking, I caught splashes of green starting to colour the land and felt a sense of hope. “But how long would this last?” she interrupted my thoughts. “The drought is predicted to return in the coming months and the situation is unlikely to get better any time soon.”<br />
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<a href="http://www.un.org.vn/images/Final_Ninh_Thuan_HIS_Eng.pdf" target="_blank"><b>Download and read the full story here</b></a><br />
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<b><i>Written and photo by Tran Phuong Anh</i></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-68950766760790031462017-01-16T12:00:00.002+07:002017-02-08T17:52:31.905+07:00End violence against children in Viet Nam<div style="text-align: left;">
Violence against children is everywhere but hidden behind closed doors violence and it is costing countries in East Asia and the Pacific around US $209 billion/year, equivalent to 2 percent of their combined GDP. All children have the right to live free from violence that harms their physical and mental growth, and holds back society. Violence against children is entirely preventable when people come together and say that it is not acceptable. When they make the invisible visible.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-69515832482218357252017-01-16T10:08:00.001+07:002017-01-16T11:59:35.225+07:00Improving maternity health and children in Viet NamDien Bien is home to 21 ethnic minorities in the Northwest of Vietnam with more than 491,000 inhabitants. Child mortality rate among ethnic minorities is four times higher than the rate of Kinh Hoa. Maternal mortality rate in mountainous area is three times higher than the rate of delta areas. <br /><br />The reason for this mortality rate is because only a small percentage of pregnant women came to healthcare facilities to give birth, so there are concerns over hygiene and sanitation matters. With the support of the development partners Johnson&Johnson, UNICEF has helped saving the lives of millions of Vietnamese women and children.<br /><br />In this five year partnership, Johnson&Johnson, UNICEF and Vietnam’s Health Ministry will help promote the capacity of more than 3,000 health workers and ethnic minority midwives in four provinces of Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Gia Lai and Kon Tum to master the practices in providing cares for mothers and newborn babies.<div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-36955620086580242252016-12-16T12:00:00.000+07:002017-01-19T12:01:38.242+07:00Child-centred disaster risk reduction (DRR)Earthquakes, droughts, wild fires, epidemics, floods - we can't prevent natural hazards but if we are unprepared they can turn into disasters right before our eyes. At UNICEF we are working with children and their families as well as schools, communities and government to ensure children and their families are prepared.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-38386448911033089192016-12-05T11:49:00.000+07:002016-12-05T15:28:38.486+07:00Inclusive Education Resource Centre Helps Preparing Children with Disabilities to Integrate Regular School<b>Ninh Thuan, 3 December 2016</b> - Three-years-old Ha Phuc Nguyen was diagnosed with having generalized disorder two years ago. Nguyen then received treatment in a Paediatric hospital in Ho Chi Minh City which is about 1,000km from his home town. However, he could only stay in treatment only for few months because his family could not afford staying in the big city. Trying to find a way to help him at home, his mother joined a Facebook group in which members shared ideas about how to help children with autism. Via this group, she knew about a newly established centre in the neighbouring town where Nguyen could receive professional assistance. It takes her about one hour and a half by bus to the centre and she brings Nguyen there twice a week. Besides receiving support at the centre, Nguyen’s mother is also guided on how to work with him at home. Nguyen shows great progress after only few months. “He can communicate with me through his eyes, express his feeling and point finger to things that he wants, imitate simple gestures and play with some toys. These seem to be easy for other kids but for my son, it’s a great achievement”, his mother indicates.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvO9FNmMet_vbRbSWdqNymofhOtzkHhbhSgVxAl47GlKmEerhaH3ioc_pJlAipc8XcFqxFBf5ad1gTb6r8cmJJ9sKtw2sZs6Nh4l7Yj43XyDHQMeCuoJbY_3th2Pp7-uk9inEmoJogZPOJ/s1600/DSC_0039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvO9FNmMet_vbRbSWdqNymofhOtzkHhbhSgVxAl47GlKmEerhaH3ioc_pJlAipc8XcFqxFBf5ad1gTb6r8cmJJ9sKtw2sZs6Nh4l7Yj43XyDHQMeCuoJbY_3th2Pp7-uk9inEmoJogZPOJ/s400/DSC_0039.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div class="MsoCaption">
<i>UNICEF Viet Nam Representative Youssouf Abdel-Jelil interacted with Thang during his visit to Ninh Thuan Inclusive Education Centre in April 2016</i><b><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a name='more'></a>Similar to Nguyen, Thang showed symptoms of autism since he was one year old. However, he had to wait for six years to get the first treatment because there was no service for children with autism or with disabilities that his family could access to. Since the new centre was set up, his father has been taking him there twice a week. In this center, he has undergone various interventions and received special therapy which helped expand his span of attention, improve his communication skills and express his thoughts and feelings. “Since he started treatment quite late, it took longer time to see some progress”, says Doan Thi Thanh Thuy, a care-taker from the centre.<br />
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It took Ho Tuong Vi, a 14-years-old girl, much longer time to get support to overcome her disability. Born with hearing impairment, Vi was not enrolled in primary school formally because teachers did not have necessary skills to accommodate and teach children with special needs. However, she was allowed to sit with her younger sister in the classroom at the primary school. Although she enjoyed the company of her sister and her classmates, she hardly had any idea of what they were talking about. Now her younger sister is accompanying her twice a week to the new centre to learn sign language. “I want to learn together with her so we can communicate better”, says her sister<br />
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<b>Advocating for Policies on Inclusive Education</b><br />
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Lack of professional identification of disabilities, appropriate interventions and support in the early years have hindered the chances of children with disabilities to access to education in mainstream schools. Nearly 70 per cent of primary school-age children with disabilities in Viet Nam do not attend school. Most pre-primary, primary and lower secondary schools do not have appropriate facilities for children with disabilities. Teachers have not been trained to ensure inclusive teaching environment and they do not have adequate skills to identify and provide necessary interventions to address the needs of children with disabilities.<br />
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The Inclusive Education Resource Centre (IERC) is proven effective in preparing children with disabilities to integrate regular school with all other children. It provides screening and early interventions for children with disabilities as well as guidance and orientation for parents and teachers. UNICEF has been partnering closely with the national partners, both at the central and provincial levels, to promote the establishment of IERCs such as the one in Ninh Thuan Province. UNICEF has also pursued research with different academia to build strong knowledge to inform the development of policies for the welfare of children with disabilities in particular. In 2014, the Government regulated the establishment of IERCs and recently in June 2016, an inter-ministerial circular was issued recognizing the role of the staff supporting education for persons with disabilities. Although the decision of establishing an IERC is decentralized to the provincial level, to date only 14 IERCs have been set up throughout the country, which is far below meeting the needs of the 1.3 million children with disabilities in Viet Nam.<br />
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<b>IERC in Ninh Thuan – from policy to practice</b><br />
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guyen, Thang and Vi are among the first children benefitting from the services of the newly established IERC in Ninh Thuan, one of the poorest provinces in Viet Nam, situated in the south central coast region. Since the start of its operations in December 2015, the centre provides various services for children with disabilities such as identification, early intervention, counselling to parents, training of teachers and awareness raising in the community. Built on a premise of over 20,000m2 and staffed with 15 teaching and non-teaching employees funded through a provincial budget, the centre serves children with disabilities in Ninh Thuan and its neighboring provinces.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIEfuQvOsZx3IqoH7_6V-en5N6lPA8y_2Obn9e2HqHas_BgF4FjYexGWO4S_BMUua1vDo60uBQtZh2ocl4JCsOYtDMxsVrc7iE_M0j0zIghqkajincU7ikoQeYBtOPdBxZcbAh7IaSem_/s1600/DSC_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIEfuQvOsZx3IqoH7_6V-en5N6lPA8y_2Obn9e2HqHas_BgF4FjYexGWO4S_BMUua1vDo60uBQtZh2ocl4JCsOYtDMxsVrc7iE_M0j0zIghqkajincU7ikoQeYBtOPdBxZcbAh7IaSem_/s400/DSC_0050.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Doan Thi Thanh Thuy,
teacher of Ninh Thuan IERC showed the teaching aids that teachers made
themselves as part of the training supported by UNICEF</i></td></tr>
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UNICEF has been critical in supporting Ninh Thuan IERC throughout the process, advocating for the establishment of the centre, engaging and supporting all the relevant stakeholders, providing technical assistance, building capacity for teachers and staff.<br />
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“Ninh Thuan IERC provides a good example of delivering on national commitments and policies at the provincial level to benefit of children with disabilities. At the national level, UNICEF is providing support to policy development, legal reform, and improving social services. UNICEF continues contribute to capacity building, as well as adapted and sustainable implementation of national policies at the provincial level. Ninh Thuan’s IERC has the potential to serve as a model to be replicated in other provinces”, says Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Viet Nam Representative.<br />
“Quality education is a right for every child. It can only be achieved when each and every child, including those with disabilities, is in school receiving inclusive quality education that provides the learning required for life. UNICEF will continue to support Viet Nam to ensure that all children can receive holistic support that they need to promote their development and self-fulfillment with dignity”, he continues.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-52139865555115563762016-08-11T08:17:00.003+07:002016-08-24T14:40:11.080+07:00UPSHIFT Vietnam: Impact through Incubation<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Members of the four final teams with their mentors and the UPSHIFT team, including Mr. Jesper Moller, Deputy Representative at UNICEF Vietnam UPSHIFT Demo Day © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Demo Day/ Tran Thanh Son/ May 2016" height="258" sizes="(max-width: 5920px) 100vw, 5920px" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=770,501" srcset="http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?w=5920 5920w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=300%2C195 300w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=768%2C499 768w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C666 1024w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=85%2C55 85w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=692%2C450 692w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=615%2C400 615w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-1.jpg?resize=75%2C50 75w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Members of the four final teams with their mentors and the UPSHIFT team, including Mr. Jesper Moller, Deputy Representative at UNICEF Vietnam</span><br style="font-size: 12.8px;" /><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">UPSHIFT Demo Day © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Demo Day/ Tran Thanh Son/ May 2016</span></i></td></tr>
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In our <a href="https://blogs.unicef.org/innovation/upshift-vietnam-the-journey-continues/" onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'https://blogs.unicef.org/innovation/upshift-vietnam-the-journey-continues/', 'last update');">last update</a>, we had selected 5 teams to join the UPSHIFT Incubator for 3 months. During incubation teams participated in additional training sessions, received a small seed fund to kick start their project, and ongoing mentorship. They also had the benefit of access to a network of supporters and periodic events through Viet Youth Entrepreneurs (VYE). All these factors combined to support these teams take their concept to reality.<br />
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<strong>THE INCUBATION PHASE (JAN 2016 – APR 2016 & DEMO DAY)</strong><br />
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The incubation program started with VYE delivering 6 thematic training classes and organizing multiple focused coaching sessions for each team. Many teams integrated the lessons learned into their project and continued to implement their projects independently. At the end of incubation, all teams participated in a career development session and delivered their results at a Demo Day, which also provided the opportunity to meet with potential investors or organizations interested in their projects.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Member of Team 2 in a training session - Writing CV and interviewing skills - with Mr.Nguyen Thanh Hung, Head of Recruitment and Training Department - ACECOOK Vietnam UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Demo Day/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016" height="258" sizes="(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=770,501" srcset="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?w=2400 2400w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=300%2C195 300w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=768%2C499 768w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C666 1024w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=85%2C55 85w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=692%2C450 692w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=615%2C400 615w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-2.jpg?resize=75%2C50 75w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Member of Team 2 in a training session – Writing CV and interviewing skills – with Mr.Nguyen Thanh Hung, Head of Recruitment and Training Department – ACECOOK Vietnam UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Demo Day/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016</i></td></tr>
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<strong>Hard Lessons Learned Through Experience</strong><br />
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Successfully building a project up from an idea is never easy, especially for young people from difficult situations attempting to do it for the first time. Many of our participants underestimated the amount of effort and time their projects would take.<br />
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As Nguyen Minh Hai from Team 1 states:“Formerly, I thought that everything is simple. However, after 3 months of the incubation phase, I realized that life is not a dream. All things are so difficult and require more effort”<br />
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Faced with immense pressures and personal challenges, one team withdrew from the incubation (Team 3: Producing videos to teach sign languages on social media for public service providers and other parties of interest). Shortly after this happened another team made a request to withdraw when they felt unable to balance schoolwork and UPSHIFT work.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Member of Team 4, Truong Ngoc Anh Thu, was working with their mentor, Mr.Ngo Van Cuong from Save The Children Vietnam UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Happy Respiration sessions/ Tran Tien Thang/ March 2016" height="268" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=770,519" srcset="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?w=1200 1200w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=300%2C202 300w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=768%2C518 768w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=1024%2C690 1024w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=82%2C55 82w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=667%2C450 667w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=593%2C400 593w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-14.jpg?resize=75%2C50 75w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Member of Team 4, Truong Ngoc Anh Thu, was working with their mentor, Mr.Ngo Van Cuong from Save The Children Vietnam. UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Happy Respiration sessions/ Tran Tien Thang/ March 2016</i></td></tr>
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In light of this situation, the UPSHIFT team sat down with each team and their mentors to listen to their concerns and worked to resolve their concerns collaboratively. As a result, the four remaining teams, feeling reinvigorated, returned to their projects with fresh passion and purpose, bringing a positive impact for themselves and their communities.<br />
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<strong>Harvesting the Fruit of their Labor</strong></h3>
<h4>
<strong>Team 1: Developing a job search website for blind people</strong></h4>
The job search site for the blind that <a href="http://www.unicefstories.org/2016/02/22/upshift-vietnam-tuan-nguyen-and-team-aim-to-build-a-job-seeking-website-to-help-bridge-the-gap-between-blind-people-their-abilities-and-employers/">Tuan Nguyen and his team </a>had envisioned, is now being developed after 3 months and a lot of challenges. Not only did they have to expand their market research (they surveyed 80 visually impaired youth looking for work), they had to find ways to access employers that had jobs available for visually impaired youth and were continuously testing outreach content on their Facebook page (where they were able to help 7 youth find real jobs). After all the work they’ve done, they announced that they will officially launch <a href="http://jobforblind.com/" onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'http://jobforblind.com/', 'jobforblind.com');">jobforblind.com</a>, the first website to find jobs for the visually impaired in Vietnam during December of 2016!.<br />
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The JobforBlind project from Team 1 also attracted the attention of the wider entrepreneurship community and they had the honor to present at the Innovation Roadshow at the US Consulate General of Ho Chi Minh City in front of Consul General Rena Bitter and Senior Economic Ambassador David Thorne, among others. Further they’ve recently received support from a local cinema to deliver a job fair for the visually impaired in late June 2016 together with team 2.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Team 1 with Mr.Nguyen Quoc Phong, Manager of their shelter and Mrs.Rena Bitter, US Consul General UPSHIFT Team © American Center Ho Chi Minh/ Innovation Fair/ March 2016" height="226" sizes="(max-width: 2889px) 100vw, 2889px" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?resize=770,438" srcset="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?w=2889 2889w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?resize=300%2C171 300w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?resize=768%2C437 768w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?resize=1024%2C582 1024w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?resize=97%2C55 97w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?resize=791%2C450 791w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-5.jpg?resize=703%2C400 703w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Team 1 with Mr.Nguyen Quoc Phong, Manager of their shelter, and Mrs.Rena Bitter, US Consul General<br />UPSHIFT Team © American Center Ho Chi Minh/Innovation Fair/ March 2016</i></td></tr>
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<strong>Team 2: Providing job search support and resume consulting services for the blind</strong><br />
<strong><br /></strong>
This team wanted to build a consulting service to help the visually impaired find suitable jobs. However when they embarked on their journey, starting with a market research survey of 75 visually impaired people, the group realized that there were significant gaps in the needs and capacities of their target market.<br />
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Although the team was able to find jobs for two people, they had to change many things in their approach. By the later stages of incubation, the team was attempting to pivot towards skills training and coordinated activities with team 1 to optimize resources. As a result the job fair mentioned above was developed and promoted.<br />
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<strong>Team 4: Providing training courses for primary school children on respiratory health issues</strong></h4>
In the early days of incubation, this team struggled to achieve their target of four <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hohaphonhotieuhoc/?fref=ts" onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'https://www.facebook.com/hohaphonhotieuhoc/?fref=ts', 'Happy Respiration ');">Happy Respiration </a>sessions. However after three months they surpassed original targets by surveying 70 primary school children and 40 parents on respiratory health awareness, and organizing seven training sessions in which 151 children participated enthusiastically.<br />
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Perhaps most importantly they’ve created curriculum that their mentor, who works at Save the Children Vietnam, has helped bring to the attention of health education at schools program, where it is now under consideration to be integrated into the larger project. Congrats team 4!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Happy Respiration sessions that were organized by Team 4 at Anh Viet My and Pham Ngoc Thach Primary schools UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Happy Respiration sessions/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016" height="249" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?resize=770,481" srcset="http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?w=1200 1200w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?resize=300%2C188 300w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?resize=768%2C480 768w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?resize=1024%2C640 1024w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?resize=88%2C55 88w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?resize=720%2C450 720w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-7.jpg?resize=640%2C400 640w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Happy Respiration sessions that were organized by Team 4 at Anh Viet My and Pham Ngoc Thach Primary schools UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Happy Respiration sessions/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Member of Team 4, Truong Thi Anh Lam, with the primary pupils in a Happy Respiration session at Pham Ngoc Thach Primary schools UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Happy Respiration sessions/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016" height="263" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=770,507" srcset="http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?w=1200 1200w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=300%2C198 300w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=768%2C506 768w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=1024%2C674 1024w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=84%2C55 84w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=684%2C450 684w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=608%2C400 608w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-8.jpg?resize=75%2C50 75w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Member of Team 4, Truong Thi Anh Lam, with the primary pupils in a Happy Respiration session at Pham Ngoc Thach Primary schools<br />UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Happy Respiration sessions/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016</i></td></tr>
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<strong>Team 5: Developing a training course to support people with disabilities to use public transportation</strong><br />
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With six training sessions totaling of 107 students and more than 2,000 people reached through external communications, team 5 showed consistent motivation and drive to achieve their goals. They also established the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/clbsong.lantoayeuthuong/?fref=ts" onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'https://www.facebook.com/clbsong.lantoayeuthuong/?fref=ts', 'WAVE club');">WAVE club</a> at Vietnam National University with the slogan “To spread love by action” and are planning to hold meetings every 2 months in the future. To support the club they working on a communications campaign including a video that shows how so many people can ‘feel the wave’ that starts with a small act of kindness!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Training courses on how to help people with disabilities using public transportation, which were held by team 5. From left to right: members of team 5 - Nguyen Thi Thuong, Phan Thi Kim Van, a participant and a trainer from DRD. UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Training courses of Team 5/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016" height="249" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?resize=770,481" srcset="http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?w=1200 1200w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?resize=300%2C188 300w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?resize=768%2C480 768w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?resize=1024%2C640 1024w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?resize=88%2C55 88w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?resize=720%2C450 720w, http://i2.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-9.jpg?resize=640%2C400 640w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Training courses on how to help people with disabilities using public transportation, which were held by team 5. From left to right: members of team 5 – Nguyen Thi Thuong, Phan Thi Kim Van, a participant and a trainer from DRD. UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Training courses of Team 5/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nguyen Thi Thuong, member of Team 5 and participants in their training course UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Training courses of Team 5/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016" height="265" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" src="https://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=770,511" srcset="http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?w=1200 1200w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=300%2C199 300w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=768%2C510 768w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=1024%2C680 1024w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=83%2C55 83w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=678%2C450 678w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=602%2C400 602w, http://i1.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-12.jpg?resize=75%2C50 75w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nguyen Thi Thuong, member of Team 5 and participants in their training course UPSHIFT Incubation Phase © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Training courses of Team 5/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/ March 2016</i></td></tr>
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<strong>UPSHIFT: More than a Workshop</strong><br />
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Having met the participants during the first days of UPSHIFT, accompanying them through every step along the way of their projects, we organizers – along with their passionate mentors – were happy witnesses of the tremendous growth of the teams. They have achieved so much personal growth in just three months.<br />
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As an example we remember clearly when Team 4 would tell us time and again that they wanted to quit because the two team members could simply “not find any common means of communication with each other”. With the support of the UPSHIFT team and their mentor, the two team members gradually learned to share their concerns and work collaboratively, and since they are also sisters this development has also affected their lives in a much larger way as well. This type of personal growth is repeated, in different ways, across all of the teams.<br />
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We consider the personal development of our participants one of the success markers of UPSHIFT. With these positive indicators from the pilot UPSHIFT Workshop in Vietnam we are optimistic about the future of UPSHIFT and Social Impact in Vietnam.For the latest update on UPSHIFT, check out our website at <a href="http://upshift.vye.vn/" onclick="__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'http://upshift.vye.vn', 'upshift.vye.vn');">upshift.vye.vn</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Members of the four final teams in the incubation phase UPSHIFT Demo Day © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ UPSHIFT Demo Day/ Tran Thanh Son/ May 2016" height="258" sizes="(max-width: 5730px) 100vw, 5730px" src="https://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=770,499" srcset="http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?w=5730 5730w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=300%2C195 300w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=768%2C498 768w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=1024%2C664 1024w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=85%2C55 85w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=694%2C450 694w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=617%2C400 617w, http://i0.wp.com/www.unicefstories.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/UPSHIFT-Incubation-4.jpg?resize=75%2C50 75w" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Members of the four final teams in the incubation phase UPSHIFT Demo Day © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Demo Day/ Tran Thanh Son/ May 2016</i><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i><b>Watch the detailed video about UPSHIFT bellow</b></i></span></td></tr>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9SeKfUGuhBU" width="560"></iframe>
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<em>Written by Thu Tran <br />(UPSHIFT Coordinator) and Dai Cao (UPSHIFT Supporter)</em></div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
<em>Edited by Brian Cotter </em><br />
<em>(</em><em>UNICEF Innovation Lab, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam</em>)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-41050679766362225212016-06-28T15:10:00.001+07:002016-06-29T11:22:40.125+07:00Young Makers in Vietnam work to change the lives of Children with Disabilities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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From June 3rd to 5th 2016, 7 teams consisting of over 70 young people including designers, engineers, artisans, medical professionals and children with disabilities gathered on the campus of the Vietnam-German University (VGU) in Binh Duong, Vietnam to contribute to a better world. For 72 hours these youth participated in the inaugural T.O.M:Vietnam Makeathon (<a href="http://www.fb.com/TOMVietnam2016">www.fb.com/TOMVietnam2016</a>) to apply their skills to design and prototype open source solutions for children with disabilities. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjDjSWQgkzqhyPeRZ1lt4bGZkx8avlymUrAc_wN-eWHtIoGJVhuDLINHHZq5pWQNcEqnTz-wTqEqb9-xI8_ZjW0oQ4vMn_iW1ICSBk4eX4r6yLLY6PFs5fcNNseB5_pAmAwO0AdhoBLiN/s1600/TOMBlog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjDjSWQgkzqhyPeRZ1lt4bGZkx8avlymUrAc_wN-eWHtIoGJVhuDLINHHZq5pWQNcEqnTz-wTqEqb9-xI8_ZjW0oQ4vMn_iW1ICSBk4eX4r6yLLY6PFs5fcNNseB5_pAmAwO0AdhoBLiN/s400/TOMBlog1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span><br />
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<b>What’s TOM got to do with it?</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z5hoW-pFkPw?list=PLOPW5IlBYj27JTwy8Fga49BnplLsQ8DXG" width="540"></iframe></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOPW5IlBYj27JTwy8Fga49BnplLsQ8DXG" target="_blank"><b>See more videos of TOM Viet Nam here</b></a>
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Children with disabilities are among the most vulnerable and marginalized in Viet Nam. According to official statistics about 85% of Children with disabilities do not complete primary school and just one in five children with disabilities use special aids and devices.<br />
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T.O.M, which stands for <a href="http://tomglobal.org/">Tikkun Olam Makers</a>, is an initiative borne out of the realization that the growing global Maker movement could apply their talents and creativity to design assistive technology for people with disabilities all around the world. A key component of the TOM model is that the Need Knower, or the person that lives and experiences challenges in their daily lives, is a part of the team throughout the design and prototyping process (See UNICEF Innovation Principle #1 – Design with the User).<br />
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Another important part of the TOM process is that everything that teams develop during the event is documented and shared via an open source license (See Innovation Principles 6,7 and 9) on the <a href="http://tomglobal.org/tom-open-makers-market/">TOM Open Makers Market</a>, ensuring that change makers around the world have the opportunity to build upon the efforts of the young innovators. For the emerging Maker community in Vietnam, TOM represents a tangible opportunity for young people with technical skills to connect and collaborate with Children with Disabilities to create an inclusive environment for the development of accessible solutions. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemAf_G9SjkWH6dHSgB7kqxniathf4NCpWkH-F5r7_-L701ljdV1CovHOvELgPPZRN8T6MGF6HK48nNB7xbJH_j6HCW0BivqvuQNUvOsRtfsvPjKm28-SwGZSyN1IimDopmPA0QPMxSwgM/s1600/TOMBlog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemAf_G9SjkWH6dHSgB7kqxniathf4NCpWkH-F5r7_-L701ljdV1CovHOvELgPPZRN8T6MGF6HK48nNB7xbJH_j6HCW0BivqvuQNUvOsRtfsvPjKm28-SwGZSyN1IimDopmPA0QPMxSwgM/s400/TOMBlog2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<b>PARTNERSHIPS</b><br />
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Bringing together 7 teams consisting of need knowers, students, and professionals, providing them with appropriate resources and guidance and keeping them nourished and motivated for 72 hours is no small feat, and it doesn’t happen without strong partnerships. The execution of the inaugural event included a multi-stakeholder approach, with significant support from UNICEF Vietnam, the Israeli Trade Mission to Vietnam, The US Consulate General of Ho Chi Minh City, FABLABSaigon, Disability Research and Capacity Development (DRD), and VGU. <br />
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It takes more than 72 hours from Design to Reality <br />
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Teams were initially gathered to meet each other and start the design process on May 8th in Ho Chi Minh City. There they worked to map out the challenges they faced, started the human-centred design process, and made paper and cardboard prototypes. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWu3NjbqOdVjjqOtxbvDhSJM7z1p99mn5J-renhOzXSyu6_mSD7k0x3kab87g1r1fXS-L5-pRaLEWpZmzQNqU_pb54fby4K3DmbXBaklQEB8Nzfq5KqBgry0WXER0Q7lABq4aw_KYBmRH/s1600/TOMBlog3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdWu3NjbqOdVjjqOtxbvDhSJM7z1p99mn5J-renhOzXSyu6_mSD7k0x3kab87g1r1fXS-L5-pRaLEWpZmzQNqU_pb54fby4K3DmbXBaklQEB8Nzfq5KqBgry0WXER0Q7lABq4aw_KYBmRH/s400/TOMBlog3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">FABLABSaigon\2016\Quoc Bao Nguyen</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZn-qAwa7se5rJcNfahyphenhyphenOy4dVnEjII1uXNQodei7IoH7rvbDEBJajBguQZt02sXExzfDH880ZEG9JKV7TQFvuDQEU8FJxLFMVDKnZoIwHgJBM1BeAgVESog9SnAwzcu46e0YKsVoRNukHt/s1600/TOMBlog4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZn-qAwa7se5rJcNfahyphenhyphenOy4dVnEjII1uXNQodei7IoH7rvbDEBJajBguQZt02sXExzfDH880ZEG9JKV7TQFvuDQEU8FJxLFMVDKnZoIwHgJBM1BeAgVESog9SnAwzcu46e0YKsVoRNukHt/s400/TOMBlog4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">FABLABSaigon\2016\Quoc Bao Nguyen</span></td></tr>
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From May 8th until June 2nd, the teams went through multiple design phases and PiNG’s (in TOM languages this is a Progress, Needs, and Goals meeting) to help the FABLABSaigon team identify exactly what materials and machines they would need. When the day finally came, June 3rd, all of the teams’ necessary machinery would be at hand and they would have a budget of $200USD for materials to create their prototype. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoc6HkPtymKAgD_g0ECbNSGz_lE9h1MdI0x3SBI1PC_asRwhheGo05cUftIKUaIhWki3F-acqrzTSSLeDh-0qDDmv9_tpsJMtTz_XMCLCkkjV4N0snRPSQMHd306Jbr6hnCzTRyIwohero/s1600/TOMBlog5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoc6HkPtymKAgD_g0ECbNSGz_lE9h1MdI0x3SBI1PC_asRwhheGo05cUftIKUaIhWki3F-acqrzTSSLeDh-0qDDmv9_tpsJMtTz_XMCLCkkjV4N0snRPSQMHd306Jbr6hnCzTRyIwohero/s400/TOMBlog5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyf1preFClWRP2k4cBubSVwO-tu97R63Q5NPpQvFr1gop-SNKmNYIBjnRPWi9B3saT1vDbvG0CGiXLXtcwvR_ULhYtX0x4DiN9kF4F1Rls2byXoBo2dQi1H_f0Tntrz-0czAG-vA9r5kND/s1600/TOMBlog6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyf1preFClWRP2k4cBubSVwO-tu97R63Q5NPpQvFr1gop-SNKmNYIBjnRPWi9B3saT1vDbvG0CGiXLXtcwvR_ULhYtX0x4DiN9kF4F1Rls2byXoBo2dQi1H_f0Tntrz-0czAG-vA9r5kND/s400/TOMBlog6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<b> Adaptations through user feedback</b><br />
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The Need Knowers didn’t arrive on site at VGU until the morning of the 4th, but the teams worked hard through the night to get the initial products ready to test. Upon testing, some of the teams realized that they needed to do quite a bit more work, or even start all over again! Others received feedback that the product worked well, but it didn’t look good and the need knower wouldn’t enjoy using it, a valuable lesson in product design for sure. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaAg7tdmFm0Uj1UwnEwE9XRAjh0VVs3M1hg6Xa5R5yYUbfwdPsJ2U0dV0-9LURHlEV7UxPCKMmvLsoTP1cFWs2jL7TcMIwJQpLE4Zbltqv3J8jL7BUjh8uCowuoRkU5JSI-ZxQ4EIUTC9/s1600/TOMBlog7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaAg7tdmFm0Uj1UwnEwE9XRAjh0VVs3M1hg6Xa5R5yYUbfwdPsJ2U0dV0-9LURHlEV7UxPCKMmvLsoTP1cFWs2jL7TcMIwJQpLE4Zbltqv3J8jL7BUjh8uCowuoRkU5JSI-ZxQ4EIUTC9/s400/TOMBlog7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8cFEeF6DKubWUPl8kkhsR92-KjWcb9gHy3-aiTvZOMmCbCrLYVpMvVxNVcyFRliYcLowRb1Ks2xaB_4sxIJTiQPQc9K9m2LPG0zfEduy6nZlA7u3O5O-rmmMop9wtdEPeh2nAirDAeLT/s1600/TOMTeam4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG8cFEeF6DKubWUPl8kkhsR92-KjWcb9gHy3-aiTvZOMmCbCrLYVpMvVxNVcyFRliYcLowRb1Ks2xaB_4sxIJTiQPQc9K9m2LPG0zfEduy6nZlA7u3O5O-rmmMop9wtdEPeh2nAirDAeLT/s400/TOMTeam4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<b>Achieving Tikkun Olam</b><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXF1KjCKKhRdv8aLeok50TZIvtW5iLewdBSTtpUCZB5QN7uNu1cSo3OICabyfnVls7sC3f8w_jxH61EzdIcLPe9BUxrvxNdHZW0Bq6Khj1Vf7JWS6ajFQI0MoTkKUaRO6kftzpEnrR4Fdj/s1600/TOMBlog8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXF1KjCKKhRdv8aLeok50TZIvtW5iLewdBSTtpUCZB5QN7uNu1cSo3OICabyfnVls7sC3f8w_jxH61EzdIcLPe9BUxrvxNdHZW0Bq6Khj1Vf7JWS6ajFQI0MoTkKUaRO6kftzpEnrR4Fdj/s400/TOMBlog8.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpSMO7OWO6LcS-UqXSUQj4d8V9usAtTFl2TfaAfg_xOKy-p_s4HW8X-pqaehGnnLCZUAA2JLy53ZmNr2mag565pstJf59GMJratiSyje-Cr-e1UAoGlCGGYcmpN2ELdwdF_zjWAZqL9Yq/s1600/TOMTeam2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdpSMO7OWO6LcS-UqXSUQj4d8V9usAtTFl2TfaAfg_xOKy-p_s4HW8X-pqaehGnnLCZUAA2JLy53ZmNr2mag565pstJf59GMJratiSyje-Cr-e1UAoGlCGGYcmpN2ELdwdF_zjWAZqL9Yq/s400/TOMTeam2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUF5KvKfceiN1pUnPGxFOWabja_Ylkv7DTs8YOsrvtw1IsSfQo8uY7NPFEnhpfFauoV9wfxNDuJ-bQEcDHgBNiVpd2f1cl0FcnLtzGmy7BtUVCbQA8bdRiDyY8jHJ4xDTKvTsqNOmKgLFy/s1600/TOMTeam3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUF5KvKfceiN1pUnPGxFOWabja_Ylkv7DTs8YOsrvtw1IsSfQo8uY7NPFEnhpfFauoV9wfxNDuJ-bQEcDHgBNiVpd2f1cl0FcnLtzGmy7BtUVCbQA8bdRiDyY8jHJ4xDTKvTsqNOmKgLFy/s400/TOMTeam3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgflL8E_RvIO41IuTYCVUJiliQYkBTGBIRdqhNLyTRWko-PfPMWqwgVEu-BuhPrA-1KwS1hHEP7V67dRwIWh2SgJrOyreAfTWi0z0SLHaa3c0Jwzoy1lU862aWW-IYlXVrjecB6GZaiJoR/s1600/TOMTeam4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgflL8E_RvIO41IuTYCVUJiliQYkBTGBIRdqhNLyTRWko-PfPMWqwgVEu-BuhPrA-1KwS1hHEP7V67dRwIWh2SgJrOyreAfTWi0z0SLHaa3c0Jwzoy1lU862aWW-IYlXVrjecB6GZaiJoR/s400/TOMTeam4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0TVo6g9eHaHMfoTymE0kRbIhtV4MAKw2w3rTvNxZQa_MBeSZkKD1eTlYXD3aVKAEmvrTdnFdm9yJ2uxtqNEH9GEPlWcbi8r2B7-YEF80YeMHqrGqqJj1SB5nX1Gmhk1luiOa1HVuZ6Gy/s1600/TOMteam5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit0TVo6g9eHaHMfoTymE0kRbIhtV4MAKw2w3rTvNxZQa_MBeSZkKD1eTlYXD3aVKAEmvrTdnFdm9yJ2uxtqNEH9GEPlWcbi8r2B7-YEF80YeMHqrGqqJj1SB5nX1Gmhk1luiOa1HVuZ6Gy/s400/TOMteam5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qSF8BASDyHr7V50F22yA2sBNtRSQDxQ6UNrIzsUKooShLAy6oq8cJR37WYbZPGEUIEKOhx1O_Qnw6yLMA4iZB3Dkl2r83eQ1W3XgPiPeWMSe57tKSX1FXUQ1vSexwhPUAZP6KIlYvubS/s1600/TOMteam6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qSF8BASDyHr7V50F22yA2sBNtRSQDxQ6UNrIzsUKooShLAy6oq8cJR37WYbZPGEUIEKOhx1O_Qnw6yLMA4iZB3Dkl2r83eQ1W3XgPiPeWMSe57tKSX1FXUQ1vSexwhPUAZP6KIlYvubS/s400/TOMteam6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">FABLABSaigon\2016\Quoc Bao Nguyen</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAXuBvVmDoHR49ma8W8JVhPUZv3BQQrez_KHteABL3Sfaq_yRYJmKRWeFw8c1rQ1RzGcmNbnHMsuWVdFI452fydndtFabz33ujSnCK2JUT6ZfoidIPkPfOXwM69z8REVkNG03hUAZDraz/s1600/TOMTeam7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFAXuBvVmDoHR49ma8W8JVhPUZv3BQQrez_KHteABL3Sfaq_yRYJmKRWeFw8c1rQ1RzGcmNbnHMsuWVdFI452fydndtFabz33ujSnCK2JUT6ZfoidIPkPfOXwM69z8REVkNG03hUAZDraz/s400/TOMTeam7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<b>Next steps</b><br />
At the final celebration on the evening of June 5th, the teams presented their products to the need knowers, peers, government officials, and a panel of distinguished judges. While the progress they made in just 72 hours is amazing, many of the products are not ready for everyday use. The teams have made the commitment to continue to move forward with the products the best they can with support from the TOM:Vietnam organizers, the global TOM developer groups, academia, and local funders. <br />
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From the very first meeting of partners, the goal was to spur the creation of a community of Makers doing good, to ensure that Children with Disabilities were included as contributors to the project, and that the end of the event was not the end of the product. While it is too early to say if any of these products will be commercially available, we can be sure that the Maker movement is aware that they really can achieve “Tikkun Olam”, they can repair this world.
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-37810833193325670382016-04-29T10:10:00.001+07:002016-04-29T10:12:20.283+07:00Getting feedback from citizen to improve birth registration services in Viet Nam<br />
Giang Seo Lu is living in a remote village in Si Ma Cai district of Lao Cai province, located in the Northern mountainous area of Viet Nam. Lu has never gone to school. His daughter was born in 2011. Like most of the H’mong ethnic minority children in the area, she was delivered at home. Lu had not thought of having her birth registered because there were so many requirements to get the job done. Firstly, he had to walk two hours down the mountain to the commune centre. Then, they would ask for many papers which he did not have such as his marriage certificate or the confirmation paper of the birth of his daughter. Besides, filling in the application forms would be challenging job for him as he was illiterate.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Zg6muO8aoeDcm_roRtSdZRNmJCn9OzRgRGEdH18I2GgNDLjchzZBsV3hHyQDlzta5QHBWCFoCjsUezHKNlpwlYgItdVf8dcrNHQUuQzWDdxM0EAmZYwhLkEubDkXb3rKil9SbMvn6U5K/s1600/Social+Inclusion+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Zg6muO8aoeDcm_roRtSdZRNmJCn9OzRgRGEdH18I2GgNDLjchzZBsV3hHyQDlzta5QHBWCFoCjsUezHKNlpwlYgItdVf8dcrNHQUuQzWDdxM0EAmZYwhLkEubDkXb3rKil9SbMvn6U5K/s400/Social+Inclusion+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.56px; line-height: 14.784px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong</span></td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>Lu’s story is common for many families in the remote mountainous areas of Viet Nam. Although Viet Nam has made impressive progress in birth registration, it is estimated that 359,000 children under five years old in Viet Nam do not get a birth certificate and most of them are living in the hard to reach area. Without having their birth registered, they officially do not exist in the administrative system and therefore have been deprived from the basic child rights such as the rights to health care and education.<br />
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To support Viet Nam to further improve the situation of birth registration and reach those unreached, UNICEF supported the Government to carry out a survey to explore the root causes, the influencing factors as well as the barriers of birth registration, especially in the disadvantaged areas. Using social audit tool named Citizen Report Cards, the survey collect feedback about quality of service and satisfaction assessment of people who registered birth certificate in rural communes of Lao Cai province. <br />
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<img src="file:///C:/Users/tvhung/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg" />When the survey team met with Lu in 2015, he has already got the birth certificate for his daughter. Being reminded so many times by the local authorities, he finally decided to make a trip down to the commune centre in late 2014. To his surprise, the judicial officers supported him enthusiastically and the requirements for paper work was simpler than he thought. “The judicial staff guided us enthusiastically. However, the procedure of issuing birth certificate for a child was still complicated because it required household registration book and confirmation paper of the child’s birth”, Lu said. He also suggested to strengthen the communication about the importance of birth registration to villagers. “It’s important that everybody are aware of and carry out birth registration for their children on time so that their children have free health inssurance cards”, he said.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqQ2jdkNsiVo6e4PpWgaA3bLkNWK5Kd1orDVNCYrNYkKMOzwjDt2xGgWwiZaCo01yizHOad3vUDfp0SRVUX90GPEdazGgEjzHj_w8ZMfk9jVmPLFumKXszEg4TgZbLyuxL50bLHA2J9nE/s1600/Social+Inclusion+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqQ2jdkNsiVo6e4PpWgaA3bLkNWK5Kd1orDVNCYrNYkKMOzwjDt2xGgWwiZaCo01yizHOad3vUDfp0SRVUX90GPEdazGgEjzHj_w8ZMfk9jVmPLFumKXszEg4TgZbLyuxL50bLHA2J9nE/s400/Social+Inclusion+2.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.56px; line-height: 14.784px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong</span></td></tr>
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Three hundred people in six disadvantaged communes of Lao Cai province participated in the survey to provide their opinion about the quality of the birth registration services such as the access, the use, and the fee involved. Based on their opinion, the survey also provided a number of recommendations for improving and enhancing the quality of registration service for children birth certificates in the coming years.<br />
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“Citizens, as service users, are in the best position to provide useful feedback on quality, effectiveness and relevance of such public services as well as constraints or difficulties that they encountered when using the service. The Citizen Report Cards tool sees service users as clients, therefore their opinions and feedbacks are very important for the process of designing, providing and evaluating public services of the Government”, said Yoshimi Nishino, Chief, Social Policy and Governance Programme of UNICEF Viet Nam.<br />
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With support from UNICEF, since 2010, Citizen Report Cards has been piloted and implemented in some provinces to assess public services, especially those for women and children in the provinces of Dien Bien, An Giang, Dong Thap, Kon Tum, Ho Chi Minh City and recently in Lao Cai. Results and recommendations of Citizen Report Cards were widely shared with related parties, especially governments, service providers and the people in order to further improve quality and effectiveness of the essential public services for children.<br />
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<i>By Thanh Huong, January 2016</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-39056050057161352422016-04-27T16:38:00.000+07:002018-06-19T10:07:52.226+07:00UNICEF promotes quality social work in Viet NamLittle Pham Ngoc Lan[*] jumped on and off the plastic chairs while picking up the toy animals in between the jumps. She then moved to play with the gym ball and the colorful plastic circles. Although she seemed to be tired, she enjoyed the games very much. This was not a normal children’s playground. She was in the Psychotherapy Ward for Children with Mental Disorder and those toys and games were parts of the therapy.<br />
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Lan lives with her family in Quang Ninh - a Northern Province of Viet Nam. Although she was born physically healthy, she appeared to be more “immature” than her peers in development. She could only speak a few words. She was slow to master simple things like dressing, tooth brushing, hand washing and feeding herself. She hardly responded to any word and gesture of anyone, including her parents.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong</td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>Lan started the treatment here few months ago. After the screening examination, the staff of the centre designed a specific therapeutic treatment plan for her. She came to the Centre twice a week to participate in the therapeutic treatment. Her parents were also guided how to work with her at home. “She has improved a lot. She responds better to us and be able to talk in longer sentences”, said her mother.<br />
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Lan is among the 200 children with mental disorder who have been receiving support and treatment from this Psychotherapy Ward. The service is piloting in the Social Work Service Centre (SWSC) of Quang Ninh province. Since its establishment in 2011, besides providing psychological treatment to children with mental disorder, the SWSC has provided support to thousands of vulnerable people including children victims of abuse, abandonment, trafficking, serious neglect and those infected/affected with HIV/AIDS. “UNICEF has been instrumental in the establishment of this centre, providing advocacy and technical support for the visioning and development of the centre from the beginning” said Mr. Dang Huu Binh, Director of Quang Ninh Provincial SWSC.<br />
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Along with rapid economic development, Viet Nam is increasingly confronted with complex challenges such as a high number of reported cases of child violence, exploitation, neglect, disability, drug abuse and juvenile in conflict with the law. In addressing these issues, the government of Viet Nam and UNICEF are prioritizing the development the professional social work. The country plans to have at least one social work service centre in every of 713 districts and towns by 2020.<br />
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With 19 Social Work Service Centres currently operating in Quang Ninh, the province is recognized as having the largest number of Social Work Service Centres in Viet Nam. However, the lack of trained social workers and specific technical guidelines on service delivery have constrained the quality of service delivery as well as the replication of the services throughout the province. “We need to standardize our services and procedures of service delivery as well as develop a strong monitoring and evaluation system. We also need to have an effective coordinating mechanism among the concerned sectors such as police, health, justice, education, mass organizations, especially in dealing with emergency cases. We rely on UNICEF for your continued advocacy and technical support in those issues”, said Mr. Binh.<br />
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UNICEF has been at the forefront providing strong advocacy and technical support to the government in the development of social work profession. In the recent visit to Quang Ninh, Mr. Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam expressed his appreciation to Quang Ninh’s strong efforts and good investment in social work. “As a long-standing partner of Viet Nam in the area of child protection, we are committed to partnering with Quang Ninh Province to develop innovative and strategic models to improve availability and access of children, family and people to services. We will continue to provide technical assistance and expertise in developing guidelines and service standards for the social work services. With the knowledge and experience from the field and around the globe, we will continue to advocate with the government to strengthen the legal framework on social work and strengthen the human workforce of social workers so that all children in need in Viet Nam can have access to the quality social work services”, said Mr. Abdel-Jelil.<br />
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<b>By Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong</b></div>
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<i>[*] Name has been changed to protect identity of the child</i><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-60953201036099130622016-04-01T11:45:00.000+07:002016-04-01T11:45:21.232+07:00The Revised Child Law: the Opportunity for Viet Nam to consolidate its pioneering stand on child rights A child is any person under 18 years of age. This is the definition given by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and it’s also the definition agreed by all but a handful of States in the world. Viet Nam is a pioneer globally in upholding child rights as it was the first country in Asia to ratify the Convention in 1990, and the second country in the world. The global leadership role on child rights has been reaffirmed with Directive No. 20 issued by the Politburo of the Central Committee in 2012 aiming at strengthening care, education, and protection of children. <br />
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<a name='more'></a>Thanks to advances in brain scanning technology, recent scientific research reveals that persons under the age of 18 are not yet fully mature adults. In fact, the most critical parts of the brain responsible for decision-making are not fully formed until the early 20s. This supports the rationale thrust behind the international definition of a child as under 18 years, as it provides critical opportunities to support children aged between 16 and 18 to enter into productive adulthood.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, Representative UNICEF in Viet Nam</td></tr>
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Using 18 as the age to define a child does not mean that 18 must be legislated as the age for all matters relating to children. Recognizing children develop and grow over time, national laws can set different ages at which children are considered capable of making decisions or taking part in certain activities. For example, national laws may say that a child is able to drive a motorbike at the age of 16, is considered criminally responsible at the age of 14, and can engage in light work at the age of 15. However, in recognition that they are not yet fully mature, all children under the age of 18 are entitled to special care and protection, and both parents and the government continue to owe a special duty to them until they reach adulthood.</div>
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By defining a child as under 18 years, Viet Nam can extend protection of rights to cover all children, and avoid the risk that children aged 16-18 years fall through the gaps. This could be a young girl victim of sexual abuse in need of care, or a young orphan who needs protection. <br />
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Viet Nam’s current Law on Protection, Care and Education of Children from 2004 stipulates that children prescribed in the Law are Vietnamese citizens aged under 16 years. Members of the National Assembly are currently debating a new draft Child Law that proposes to make explicit that a child is a person under the age of 18 years. This disposition will be in alignment with international standards anchored in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that Viet Nam ratified in 1990, in a pioneering manner in the Region and Globally: being the first in Asia and the second in the world.<br />
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UNICEF is extremely concerned that a rejection to raise the age of the child to 18 would have negative consequences for children that would deny them support and protection at a critical time of their growth. Viet Nam is facing a defining moment in time, and UNICEF trusts that Viet Nam will continue its pioneering status in protecting children’s and adopt the alignment of the age of the child, as under 18, in conformity with international child rights standards. </div>
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<i><b>By Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam</b></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-56263739252923157942016-03-14T16:15:00.001+07:002016-03-14T16:15:31.983+07:00Bilingual education is a gateway to Sustainable Development<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif, Meiryo, 'Malgun Gothic', 'Microsoft YaHei'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">The Ministry of Education and Training in Viet Nam has successfully implemented the initiative supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that promotes mother tongue-based bilingual education (MTBBE) in Lao Cai, Gia Lai and Tra Vinh provinces since 2008. The findings from the final evaluation showed that MTBBE is relevant for quality and inclusive education in the Viet Nam’s context. As the result, An Giang province is expanding MTBBE namely with Khmer language. This video is showing how a child is experiencing the benefits of the MTBBE in the school and in the family life. The use of mother tongue during first years in school boosts up learning among children from ethnic minority group, allowing them to stay longer in school and to become proficient in the national or international language in the later years. Teachers, children and parents recognize the value of learning in the children’s mother-tongue. The MTBBE programme helps empower ethnic minority children, their family and community to integrate socially and to fulfil their citizenship. Bilingual education is therefore a gateway to Sustainable Development.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8JFuuZ2HFGU" width="540"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-19550092664933264652016-03-08T15:05:00.000+07:002016-03-08T15:05:23.597+07:00UPSHIFT:Viet Nam -The Journey ContinuesContinuing from our previous update, 10 teams with a total of 31 participants were identified through a judging process from a pool of 93 applications. Out of the 31 participants, 49% of which were youths with disabilities: 10 visually impaired, 4 deaf, and 1 disabled people; 19% came from disadvantaged backgrounds and living in different social protection centers in Ho Chi Minh City; 29% were students majoring in social works, and we even had a high school student as a team leader!<br /><br />These 10 teams continued on with their UPSHIFT journey through 3-day intensive bootcamp at the end of November 2015. In this phase, teams were exposed to the skill-sets they need to design, build, and test their products as well as how to execute and manage their projects. If this sounds like a lot of things to learn over 3 days, you are right. Going into the bootcamp our team was worried that the participants wouldn’t be able to keep up, or that the lessons wouldn’t be adapted into the projects. Through the extensive preparation and the outstanding commitment of the participants, mentors, and speakers our fears were unfounded.<div>
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<i>Mentors, supporter and UPSHIFT Organizer</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<b>Creating a support network for participants</b><br /><br />Many of our participants in UPSHIFT are encountering the methods of design thinking, lean startup, and basic finance for the very first time. For this reason, it is vital to the program to create a strong and stable supporting network around them. This creates consistent opportunities that are a freely available to them whenever they need support. In the creation of this support network in Viet Nam, we needed to identify ways for the teams to get support beyond the days of the workshop. This support not only had to be technical in nature (i.e. knowledge transfer), but also provide empowerment, encouragement, constructive criticism, and be able to build trust.<br /><br />We built a support network with a multi-stakeholder approach: with local experts and volunteers from the for-profit and non-profit sector including startups, entrepreneurs, industry and civil society leaders.<br /><br />Each team was assigned one mentor and supporter, and were required to attend the entire bootcamp. In addition, we had a speaker for each section of the curriculum. Some supporters had relevant skills for the team projects, and others had experiential knowledge to share. <br /><br />Besides the mentors and speakers, Viet Youth Entrepreneurs built a supporting volunteer team. Each supporter was available to help a specific team throughout their learning and executing process. The volunteer squad also ensured that all elements of the workshop were accessible to all participants. This was critical as we didn’t expect to have such a strong presence of participants with physical disabilities. </div>
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<br /><b>Orientation & Stakeholder Mapping</b><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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The teams were assigned ‘homework’
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<i>Participants at the Orientation Day before core workshop</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Nguyen Le Nam/November 20</i>15</div>
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<i>From left to right: Nguyen Minh Tuan, La Thi Mai Thu, Nguyen Minh Hai, Dao Van Thom (participants) and Bui Nguyen Nhat Minh (supporter)</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Nguyen Le Nam/November 2015</i></div>
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After meeting with their mentors and supporters, the teams started their first lesson: creating a stakeholder map. This stakeholder map is used extensively in the early sections of the UPSHIFT curriculum to keep track of the people benefiting from the projects.</div>
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<i>Vong Quang Ky, member of the visually impaired team, was touching the physical model to imagine the stakeholder mapping</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Tran Thi Hoai Thu/November 2015</i></div>
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After the first orientation lesson, our supporters saw that the teams were able to identify core stakeholders very well, but secondary and other influencers were harder to nail down. Each team had wonderful ideas, the desire to change and to bring meaning and impactful projects to the community. However, they were lacking the experience and skills to gain the broader perspective they need to make their projects real. To help the teams expand their understanding of the different actors and their perspective of the problem, they completed at least 5 stakeholder interviews between orientation and the workshop. .<br /><br /><b>Workshop: 72 hours to make it real </b><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Training Sessions</b></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop Program © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/November 2015</i></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="h.r2q0waqf81nm"></a><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Understanding the Problem</span><o:p></o:p></h2>
A quote attributed to Albert Einstein goes — '<i>If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions.</i>'<br /><br />While we didn’t quite spend the majority of our time thinking about the problem, the first step of UPSHIFT is to go back to that original problem statement and dig deeper and iteratively refine it using real stakeholder information and further insights. Teams refined their problem in a logical way, such as: a problem tree, stakeholder mapping, and personas for each target group. Each team was able to identify a clear problem statement, whom it was impacting, who the beneficiaries were and how they might behave, and what impact the team was hoping to create.</div>
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<i>From left to right: Cao Thi Xuan Dai (facilitator), </i></div>
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<i>Tran Thi Hoai Thu (coordinator), and Brian Cotter (Innovation Specialist)</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
<br /><b>Design Challenge</b><br /><br />UPSHIFT is a “Problem-centric” curriculum, meaning that teams must first define the problem before they develop a solution. Even though some teams suggested a solution in their applications, the criteria they were judged by was the clarity and impact of their problem. We asked the teams to put off all thoughts of a solution until the Design Challenge portion of the Workshop. The main goal was to brainstorm, without judgement, and to create and build ideas for their products. From those ideas, they were lead through a process to help prioritize ideas that would best impact on their problem.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrOJ9Mv7zidwhPQXBaKij54bvUwp-AcPnfqq3rL76eWzIEHxCkt6khNg3HBiiCw-GztYjYeCEtoKA59AizJkmllg9dTORzOlFIEk7kITJuIP_j6_xjBJHCW7DkDn0-v36_H8fQFHqV2p8q/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrOJ9Mv7zidwhPQXBaKij54bvUwp-AcPnfqq3rL76eWzIEHxCkt6khNg3HBiiCw-GztYjYeCEtoKA59AizJkmllg9dTORzOlFIEk7kITJuIP_j6_xjBJHCW7DkDn0-v36_H8fQFHqV2p8q/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>From left to right: Nguyen Ngoc Hiep, Le Thi Duyen and Le Hoang Mai Hoa (in blue T-shirt, participants), Do Huong Ly (in white T-shirt, mentor)</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<b>Prototyping and Testing</b><br /><br />Moving straight into prototyping our teams had to narrow down their focus and choose one thing to do. With their choice made, they could use 4 different ways to make their idea real: Role play, Story board, Method, and Model. <br /><br />The room was filled with energy.The teams explored many ways to prototype. We had live demonstrations of self defense tactics, groups that created role-playing interactions between public servants and youth, and lots of storyboarding with great artwork.</div>
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<i>Practicing Role Play Method in Prototyping Phase</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<i>Practicing Role Play Method in Prototyping Phase</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/ </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<b>Make It Real</b></div>
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<span style="line-height: 150%;">It was time for the teams to t</span>ake a closer look at their problem and solution to start the process of assessing the financial and operational feasibility of their ideas. Teams had to look at ways of achieving their tasks using non-money, how they would use startup capital, and how to continue their project once initial funding ran out (assuming they made the incubation phase).<span style="line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
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<i>Mr. Clyd Pascual (in checked shirt, domain expert from Ticketbox) was giving comments on the exercise of team</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NJgrUdEhceeds1ZGmR1JvQT2lzXNl_DUUDboNMkM510GoiyTKLjKKod5HLx5EvAGHGc7C3QBsxOE8IGtZoheLCdSMVk7tgeu565drvRLLLf6ATcVVQ1oLF8QFFVrZzS9Mk95e7rVGdDO/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NJgrUdEhceeds1ZGmR1JvQT2lzXNl_DUUDboNMkM510GoiyTKLjKKod5HLx5EvAGHGc7C3QBsxOE8IGtZoheLCdSMVk7tgeu565drvRLLLf6ATcVVQ1oLF8QFFVrZzS9Mk95e7rVGdDO/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>From left to right: Huynh Tri Vien and Nguyen Hoang Phuc <br />(members of the team which working on the LGBT issue)</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmlJORb0-vOkS1yfULJ_2Npsqg8N0CbIqJXDmgMuaXblUHFRkgRFSleJicWaaX7sI7SCB6JXEspVLuhjJ5sFhLpUNKvudbH7QhzoQRgsBsDdAStIywFyCvdGAvS_3y3vCP8-JCNWDMhBw/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmlJORb0-vOkS1yfULJ_2Npsqg8N0CbIqJXDmgMuaXblUHFRkgRFSleJicWaaX7sI7SCB6JXEspVLuhjJ5sFhLpUNKvudbH7QhzoQRgsBsDdAStIywFyCvdGAvS_3y3vCP8-JCNWDMhBw/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<i>Pitching Potential</i></div>
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After 2+ days of hard work, the teams were ready for the major component of the workshop: the pitch. Each team had 5 minutes to pitch in front of a judging panel and guests, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A. We selected 5 teams for further incubation.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Ros8dGD_S1Vqt-uaprMc7hL5dKEDASMIoyWDScZNOgIkBfn9zrBg0J8F7RRWf2EEngvSepUS2EVARZVMGLLYBzVkE6kq0FG-TlyCuNKugYFfqCzDvlT8WikwrAYh4v9dgo-jGG1F2och/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Ros8dGD_S1Vqt-uaprMc7hL5dKEDASMIoyWDScZNOgIkBfn9zrBg0J8F7RRWf2EEngvSepUS2EVARZVMGLLYBzVkE6kq0FG-TlyCuNKugYFfqCzDvlT8WikwrAYh4v9dgo-jGG1F2och/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Zl8v7i32WBhZtpAWCNp6isR44OUM6p8OnYZIlXyy72M16ugyAOxX5uIuEA1i-qC0HSW5Qid_uv3LPE17UpkX0_yK9D-U99x0-Av5Fp1BhPDnoQKg8Iol3LWhELZZQF8iDlUStFfQKc7r/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Zl8v7i32WBhZtpAWCNp6isR44OUM6p8OnYZIlXyy72M16ugyAOxX5uIuEA1i-qC0HSW5Qid_uv3LPE17UpkX0_yK9D-U99x0-Av5Fp1BhPDnoQKg8Iol3LWhELZZQF8iDlUStFfQKc7r/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Picking a random number for pitching </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LBULZmGWCpUItkqpYQAVtlJ6r7nc9TvC6CCvscqEbC0zmwsrReOseLtTdFt3rmGyooR9OOZTNIx7_kZP4T2JK_i6GmAo8Az0FJOpmfCTOPREP9Cut6ZvISNho9f2bn0J2FQ8kppZu-FW/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LBULZmGWCpUItkqpYQAVtlJ6r7nc9TvC6CCvscqEbC0zmwsrReOseLtTdFt3rmGyooR9OOZTNIx7_kZP4T2JK_i6GmAo8Az0FJOpmfCTOPREP9Cut6ZvISNho9f2bn0J2FQ8kppZu-FW/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+17.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Nguyen Thuy Bich Hien was using sign language to present the project of her team</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ovIjFq-8DA4iCHFFvm-hEfqExTC_u_h7XeFOZMX-dahyiXOsCEvCm64dpT-SiDP1_zWwJa58il-DgjVWVxiKfawcWrGqzRoWMasrHApes2bhUf6Gn6xvs35aUvfClVbCYLwyMOicBntz/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ovIjFq-8DA4iCHFFvm-hEfqExTC_u_h7XeFOZMX-dahyiXOsCEvCm64dpT-SiDP1_zWwJa58il-DgjVWVxiKfawcWrGqzRoWMasrHApes2bhUf6Gn6xvs35aUvfClVbCYLwyMOicBntz/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>From left to right: Phan Thi Kim Van and Nguyen Thi Thuong (participants)</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<i>Nguyen Minh Tuan (in blue T-shirt, participant) was pitching to judging panel</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57n0pKcN84qgwkAaf0g6VX0Up6A4Q9Bkppt-SW76EmVR6v9F73YgyItg3olM5sYN2aLmz33uarMpeJYiBf5GquQ11qt_pJyAGsG6guqGlUMJSw4rDPIoo6zHmcvbGvh4N9qm3R2-zkk2y/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57n0pKcN84qgwkAaf0g6VX0Up6A4Q9Bkppt-SW76EmVR6v9F73YgyItg3olM5sYN2aLmz33uarMpeJYiBf5GquQ11qt_pJyAGsG6guqGlUMJSw4rDPIoo6zHmcvbGvh4N9qm3R2-zkk2y/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>From left to right: Mr.Tran Cong Binh (Child Protection Specialist) and </i></div>
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<i>Mrs.Marianne Oehlers (Chief Programme Partnerships Office) from UNICEF HCMC Sub-Office </i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<i>All participants (in blue), mentors and UPSHIFT organizers (in white)</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
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<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<b>Our Teams for Incubation<br /><br />Team 1: Developing a job search website for blind people</b></div>
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<i><br /></i><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Team in blue T-shirt, from left to right: Nguyen Minh Hai, La Thi Mai Thu, Dao Van Thom, Nguyen Minh Tuan </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<b>Team 2: Developing a centre providing consulting services and advice for blind people to develop employable skills</b></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2EdvUb0Oz9ZVho9a8GxFg0S0YOWKnFxHk0CiZw-8xQHtTcjfW0zvz0axQx1j7Q3oDu7f_hDnmph0BWVjONiCNXYIUsiIN-nL9f_nvSAbP6bbPTvouDcpX5EujEXCV-p4CcD0WUAtOjyTm/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+23+-+Team+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2EdvUb0Oz9ZVho9a8GxFg0S0YOWKnFxHk0CiZw-8xQHtTcjfW0zvz0axQx1j7Q3oDu7f_hDnmph0BWVjONiCNXYIUsiIN-nL9f_nvSAbP6bbPTvouDcpX5EujEXCV-p4CcD0WUAtOjyTm/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+23+-+Team+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Team in blue T-shirt, from left to right: </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Vong Minh Nhi, Vong Quang Ky, Phan Duy Hai</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;">Team 3: Making
social media videos teaching sign language for public service providers and
people.</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQETVuyu0ITJ62A478uDfPVpoe5gc_MevG2veIarcEdugkIkumz87iBUDOc-NxuXnI7kLjF2uieaSSksGFSSEx2Twbn4Vb-rO-IGXL6tiPXqDD2rwo-nhmkiChMFAAdfps9Cdos-TAs-Z/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+24+-+Team+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQETVuyu0ITJ62A478uDfPVpoe5gc_MevG2veIarcEdugkIkumz87iBUDOc-NxuXnI7kLjF2uieaSSksGFSSEx2Twbn4Vb-rO-IGXL6tiPXqDD2rwo-nhmkiChMFAAdfps9Cdos-TAs-Z/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+24+-+Team+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Team in blue T-shirt, from left to right: Nguyen Hoang Lam, Nguyen Thuy Bich Hien, Vo Dinh Hung, Bui Thi Thanh Huong)</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222;">Team 4:
Training course for primary school children on respiratory health</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tG2HpEZf9Gcnp0GBSu_nppdgQoRwXscNzyoZ9BQUymxXDxyLGN5L14YyI8zRu2fpv-JC6uNJX0FMP7Sr4GkhyphenhyphendbVfaR5mD-ejmNm4wLC8exKEPrFBO7TYpNIjqBC__WXFR77qsh_xUmj/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+25+-+Team+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3tG2HpEZf9Gcnp0GBSu_nppdgQoRwXscNzyoZ9BQUymxXDxyLGN5L14YyI8zRu2fpv-JC6uNJX0FMP7Sr4GkhyphenhyphendbVfaR5mD-ejmNm4wLC8exKEPrFBO7TYpNIjqBC__WXFR77qsh_xUmj/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+25+-+Team+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Team in blue T-shirt, from left to right: Truong Ngoc Anh Thu, Truong Thi Anh Lam </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;">Team 5:
Training course for students to support people with disabilities to use public
transport servcies. </span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixe7ReL7c3EysP-bUa_P8GFDjQ-zqtAbxSrxmpzT9tjtZZ6o9mvqhp9AU9aqiJYq_r2XTdvOI8mtdqXRxfbEd1Ke_YXxmF57cTSurDZnKJEjhQBC4F36HXO_oC65rKjQILOMGcSwRjkdGQ/s1600/Workshop+Experiences+-+26+-+Team+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixe7ReL7c3EysP-bUa_P8GFDjQ-zqtAbxSrxmpzT9tjtZZ6o9mvqhp9AU9aqiJYq_r2XTdvOI8mtdqXRxfbEd1Ke_YXxmF57cTSurDZnKJEjhQBC4F36HXO_oC65rKjQILOMGcSwRjkdGQ/s400/Workshop+Experiences+-+26+-+Team+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Team in blue T-shirt, from left to right: Phan Thi Kim Van, Nguyen Thi Thuong</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/November 2015</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;"><b>The
exciting journey ahead…</b></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #222222;">These 5
teams have now entered the incubation program during which they will have a
total of 3 months to fully execute their pilots and showcase their products or
services to an audience of potential supporters. </span>UPSHIFT<span style="color: #222222;"> will continue to support them by providing extended
training courses, such as planning and management, proposal writing,
fundraising, networking, and communication. Their mentors and supporters will
also continue to work alongside them to provide any guidance and help they
might need. Even though 3 months is a short amount of time to grow their
projects, both Viet Youth Entrepreneurs and UNICEF are confident that the teams
can show real impact on their target stakeholders. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="color: #222222;">To keep
in touch with the teams, follow their progress at </span><span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="http://upshift.vye.vn/">upshift.vye.vn</a></span></div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="msocomtxt" id="_com_3" language="JavaScript">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: right;">
<i>Written by Thu Tran (Upshift Coordinator) & Minh Bui (Upshift Supporter)</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<i><span style="color: #222222;">Edited by Brian Cotter UNICEF Innovation Lab: Viet Nam</span></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-89249520199201327612016-03-08T10:48:00.000+07:002016-03-11T09:31:04.724+07:00UPSHIFT Viet Nam: Tuấn Nguyễn and team aim to build a job-seeking website to help bridge the gap between blind people, their abilities, and employersUPSHIFT has brought new opportunities to Vietnamese youth,
specifically those from marginalized communities, to learn skills that they
might need to bring about their own social impact projects. To think that the
participants are the only ones that have benefited from the program is not
entirely true. Those of us at Viet Youth Entrepreneurs (VYE), as organizers of
UPSHIFT, have a lot to learn from them as well. In our first profile we will
bring you the story of Tuấn Nguyễn. His story is one of overcoming difficulties
and giving back to his community. Though Tuan appears to be happy these days,
it wasn’t always this way.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfwDNNMce-UO7iTtFbuxG4X-vXuYYd113ypqzvhyphenhyphens-kj8d3HAsGYYn2nTzOioZYgqBIZusZfxJGlDZLmOy4v11nszHff_ZPgvl_T4UloM7YevbaJtvyRdemFeE5UWNo58_5EpdmDlKcI8/s1600/Group+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzfwDNNMce-UO7iTtFbuxG4X-vXuYYd113ypqzvhyphenhyphens-kj8d3HAsGYYn2nTzOioZYgqBIZusZfxJGlDZLmOy4v11nszHff_ZPgvl_T4UloM7YevbaJtvyRdemFeE5UWNo58_5EpdmDlKcI8/s400/Group+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium;">
From left to right: Dao Van Thom, Nguyen Minh Tuan, Nguyen Minh Hai are in blue T-shirts (participants), Nguyen Nha Quyen (mentor) and Bui Nguyen Nhat Minh (supporter)</div>
<div style="font-size: medium;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="background: white;">UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="background: white;">UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div>
<b>The Blind IT Teacher</b></div>
<div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
During this year’s outreach and
workshop, we had the chance to meet Tuấn. Tuấn is a member of a project that
aims to build a job-seeking website for the blind. Tuấn is a calm and collected
person with an incredible sense of humor. He receives everyone’s respect and
love at Thiên Ân Shelter for the blind in his role as the IT teacher.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tuấn’s journey to
become a qualified IT teacher is full of adversity and tremendous effort. Tuấn
graduated with good standing with a degree in IT from University of Pedagogy in
Ho Chi Minh City. He attended normal classes and was given no special
exceptions. We were inspired to know that with the right opportunity and access
to resources there is no boundary for dreams and the ability to learn, even for
those with disadvantages such as lost sight. As one of the few participants in
UPSHIFT who is over the age of 24, Tuan’s role is that of a participant-mentor.
His knowledge and experience helped his team make it into our workshop and be
rewarded with a chance at incubation to make their dream project real.</div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHpo3T_oDglvX49mi_VAeVLCrDskwBiytJd14pP0bd3fRUD0IcMbwqxSMkOkOdjz6IpwQijTK4FypJrAWrrN8_QaF7UCMhzJvPhQMJjN1ewilXAluhc__eZGcM0IT_4iFpcCsZ5vC9EA0/s1600/Minh+Tuans+story+-+1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHpo3T_oDglvX49mi_VAeVLCrDskwBiytJd14pP0bd3fRUD0IcMbwqxSMkOkOdjz6IpwQijTK4FypJrAWrrN8_QaF7UCMhzJvPhQMJjN1ewilXAluhc__eZGcM0IT_4iFpcCsZ5vC9EA0/s400/Minh+Tuans+story+-+1.jpg" /></a> <br />
<br />
<i>From left to right: Bui Nguyen Nhat Minh (supporter), Nguyen Minh Hai, Dao Van Thom, La Thi Mai Thu, Nguyen Minh Tuan are in blue T-shirts (participants), and Nguyen Nha Quyen (mentor)<br />UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/<br />UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
From a personal perspective to the life experience of a blind person</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tuấn was not born blind. His family has a history of AMD
(Age-Related Macular Degeneration), and he could not escape his fate with the
condition. When he reached 19 years of age, his eyesight deteriorated
significantly causing his loss of vision.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
At the time, he was a sophomore at University of Agriculture
and Forestry and had to quit school because he could not keep up with his
schoolwork. As a result, he lost hope and became depressed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
Tuấn explains that it’s hard for blind people to find a
suitable job, as the number of available jobs and support services for the
blind are very limited. Many training
centers simply turn down blind applicants because they had no prior experience
working with blind people and don’t have the ability to deliver appropriate
services.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
For blind students who attend Vietnamese universities,
taking examinations is also a challenge. Students are required to take English, IT and other certificates
prior to graduation. Unfortunately, these examinations are not made to be
accessible to blind students. These professional and educational difficulties
are in addition to the daily complexities of navigating the incredibly hectic
mega-city of Ho Chi Minh, which has limited accessibility options for those
with disabilities. In many cases, young people that are blind have to rely
disproportionately on their families, and are often disrespected by others and
receive many pitiful comments. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4-l3Uz8rFOJoCA6ETHZzsLUhL16VhFu63sfOGs5mOAUcJppkwnaiRPXuo7-VWZluwGhgA1i0eUamCS0R6YFSEVs96F_k-sCdadunN4WIAnBeGTIE4aCAj45TfuQOh0QrrdmDLaTsqjQP4/s1600/Minh+Tuan%2527s+story+-+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4-l3Uz8rFOJoCA6ETHZzsLUhL16VhFu63sfOGs5mOAUcJppkwnaiRPXuo7-VWZluwGhgA1i0eUamCS0R6YFSEVs96F_k-sCdadunN4WIAnBeGTIE4aCAj45TfuQOh0QrrdmDLaTsqjQP4/s400/Minh+Tuan%2527s+story+-+2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Nguyen Minh Tuan was presenting at the UPSHIFT workshop</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015 </i></div>
<br /><b>How did Tuấn overcome his difficulties?</b></div>
<div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
When Tuấn joined Thiên Ân Shelter he started
making many friends and had the opportunity to learn about many assistive tools
for blind people. Tuấn ultimately regained his motivation to continue studying.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This time, Tuấn enrolled at the University
of Pedagogy, Tuấn recorded all of his classes and listen to later, search for more materials on
the web to supplement his knowledge, and ask his friends to clarify things. On
his second year at University, Tuấn took
the chance to apply for an internship at a software development company.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
With his expertise in IT for the blind, we
asked Tuan to educate the UPSHIFT team on blind people’s ability to use
technology, especially for communication and education. Tuấn explained
enthusiastically that using screen reader software, which attempts to identify,
interpret and read what is on the screen, helps blind people use laptops and
mobile devices quite extensively.This software also provides shortcuts to help
users speed up their movements on devices. For Tuấn and many of his friends, email, most
websites, Facebook, online news, and searching for information are all easily
accessible.</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB74lWF6Lp-IA3vs6VRMhI3GfjHXhEXlDK6cAtaPYC2t603ip60EtTdjmbJm1uAr52pQiSrnU_0Dr6Y08bnQqO9FiTj7GKRJMQcxAOOmoRT3GNAm5w-OTuw9vvmIpuH95BUhTnL_V7blAH/s1600/Minh+Tuan%2527s+story+-+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB74lWF6Lp-IA3vs6VRMhI3GfjHXhEXlDK6cAtaPYC2t603ip60EtTdjmbJm1uAr52pQiSrnU_0Dr6Y08bnQqO9FiTj7GKRJMQcxAOOmoRT3GNAm5w-OTuw9vvmIpuH95BUhTnL_V7blAH/s400/Minh+Tuan%2527s+story+-+3.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Nguyen Minh Tuan was presenting at the UPSHIFT workshop</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015 </i></div>
<br /><b>How was the idea of a job-seeking website for the blind
born?</b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
Since he has lost his sight and experiencing
the difficulties of the blind first hand, Tuấn has always wanted to do
something about it. He hopes to create equal opportunities for blind people. He
feels that blind people are only known for doing odd jobs in Viet Nam, such as
masseur, selling lottery tickets, or making handicrafts. Many blind people are
forced to become beggars simply to get by, but Tuan and his team have a vision
to change this. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Job options for blind people in Viet Nam are improving,
there are opportunities to be teachers, translators or audio/video
transcribers, traditional medicine practitioners, software developers or even
get advanced degrees. However, even with emerging opportunities and blind
people with the appropriate abilities to undertake these jobs, the chances of a
blind person getting hired are still slim because not many employers have the
capacity, experience, or opportunity to connect with, and adapt to a potential
employee that is blind. Employers are generally not aware of what kinds of jobs
blind people can do, and even if they are and express an interest in hiring
them, there are not many services that could support them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Tuấn and his team aim to build a website connecting blind
people seeking employment and employers. This website is more than a simple job
board though, it aims to help bridge the gap between blind people, their
abilities and the employers by providing services such as an online forum and
mentoring. Through the online service, Tuan hopes that more and more blind
people will be able to find a suitable job to support themselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
You can get updates on Tuan and his team at <a href="http://upshift.vye.vn/">upshift.vye.vn </a> </div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Written by Thu Tran & Minh Bui from VYE</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Edited by Brian Cotter UNICEF Innovation Lab: Viet Nam</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-45776791561602150912016-03-08T10:29:00.000+07:002016-03-08T10:30:01.864+07:00UPSHIFT Viet Nam: Kim Van is fulfilling her dream of helping people with disabilities overcome challenges in daily transportation I still remember our first encounter with Kim Van, head of the “Assist People with Disabilities on Public Transportation" project, when we organized our first UPSHIFT outreach session at the Center for Disability Research & Capacity Development (DRD) in Viet Nam. Van has weak leg muscles and is reliant on a wheelchair to move around but there is nothing weak about her when she talks about her dreams. Her strong will and clear motivation makes her the ideal UPSHIFT participant - young, focused, and determined to make the most of the opportunity.<br />
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYirgTa88CChX_fJRk6Yqq2TaAOCQIcBwzzHPnrElDZT9lzFY3is6leQ8tYnIaxfAFYFYyspDd4Hofk6uGVEX_C6ACyB3IIcJDoic5pCRhNPVBwBrR1yJ7eRzCWJEo-9jqZ9YODvXQ3W-X/s1600/Kim+Vans+story+-+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYirgTa88CChX_fJRk6Yqq2TaAOCQIcBwzzHPnrElDZT9lzFY3is6leQ8tYnIaxfAFYFYyspDd4Hofk6uGVEX_C6ACyB3IIcJDoic5pCRhNPVBwBrR1yJ7eRzCWJEo-9jqZ9YODvXQ3W-X/s400/Kim+Vans+story+-+4.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
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Phan Thi Kim Van (participant)</div>
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UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015</div>
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<b>A long way from home, on her own. </b><br />
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Van is originally from Quang Nam, a small province 800 kilometers away from Ho Chi Minh City. Both Van and her brother have mobility disabilities. They were born with Polio, which is degenerative and continues to get worse with time, as her brother is.<br />
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Due to her condition, Van has faced many complications in her educational journey. In grade school, she nearly dropped out many times because she felt sorry for her parents who had to carry her to school everyday. Despite the challenges, Van excelled in school and was recognized as an honor student for all twelve years.<br />
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When it was time for Van to take the university entrance exam, things did not go as expected. She did not pass the test but Van did not dwell on this roadblock. Instead, she quickly regained her confidence and attempted the exam again. This time, her hard work paid off. She was accepted to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities as a Psychology major.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><img src="file:///C:/Users/tvhung/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg" style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;" /><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Kim Van on the left side at Outreach event for disabilities at The Disability Research & Capacity Development Center (DRD), District 9, HCMC</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UPSHIFT Outreach © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UPSHIFT Outreach/ October 2015</span></td></tr>
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After convincing her parents to let her move 800km away from home, by herself, to attend university in Ho Chi Minh city, Van got one step closer to achieving her dreams. After two years in the university dormitory, Van proved herself quite capable both in school and daily life. Her friends who are always willing to help her out provide her the biggest inspiration to overcome her daily challenges as a student.<br />
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<b>The Struggle of People with Disabilities </b><br />
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When I asked Van about her challenges, she was honest, but optimistic. She recognized that different disabilities present different challenges, but overall life is hard for people with disabilities. Van has had to deal with indifference, misunderstandings and prejudices from people without empathy.Before joining DRD, Van herself felt uncomfortable interacting with others. At DRD, she was able to connect with others who share similar experiences and challenges and learn about new opportunities, such as UPSHIFT.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Kim Van in blue T-shirt in the middle at Outreach event for disabilities at The Disability Research & Capacity Development Center (DRD), District 9, HCMC</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UPSHIFT Outreach © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">UPSHIFT Outreach/ October 2015</span></td></tr>
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<b>The dream of helping people with disabilities</b><br />
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Van dreams of helping people with disabilities overcome challenges in daily transportation so they can integrate more seamlessly into society. Van knows that she cannot transform public infrastructure to accommodate people with disabilities in a short amount of time. Instead, she has chosen to use a more humane and practical approach: equip as many people as possible with the necessary skills to help people with disabilities move on public transportation. She wants to build up the general public's knowledge of the difficulties people like her experience, and show them how to empathize with the person and equip them with the skills to make a difference. <br />
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Her personal experience is the source of her inspiration to help others. Many of the places she needed to go for University had accessibility issues for her. Thankfully, she was able to get around with the help of friends. This experience has led her to believe that when people with disabilities are able to ask for help and people in their community are able to contribute support, many transportation challenges can reduced. Van also hopes to raise young people's awareness about helping others, not just those with disabilities but anyone who is less fortunate. </div>
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From left to right: Mr.Vo Duc Duy (mentor), Nguyen Thanh Lanh (supporter), Phan Thi Kim Van & Nguyen Thi Thuong (participants in blue T-shirts), </div>
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UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Workshop/ Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015</div>
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<b>Can UPSHIFT help realize her dream?</b><br />
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Van told me she felt proud and happy when UPSHIFT gave her the opportunity to pursue her dream. She highlighted that some of the skills UPSHIFT taught her, such as professionalism, communications, and project planning, have already made an impact on her project. She expressed great excitement to continue her project in the workshop and also, hopefully, in the incubation program.<br />
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Finally, I asked Van if she wanted to share anything with Viet Nam's youth. She thought of her blind peers right away and responded as such, and I quote: “You can only see one color, but you live with fire in your heart, and thus you are the most beautiful.”<br />
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If you want to keep up to date with Kim Van and her team, follow us at <a href="http://upshift.vye.vn/">upshift.vye.vn</a>. </div>
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<i>Written by Thu Tran (UPSHIFT Coordinator) & Dai Cao (UPSHIFT Facilitator)</i></div>
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<i>Edited by Brian Cotter UNICEF Innovation Lab: Viet Nam</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-88589324495236173042016-03-08T10:05:00.002+07:002016-03-09T11:09:31.941+07:00An UPSHIFT Journey - From Kosovo to Viet Nam<b>Enter UPSHIFT Social Impact Workshop</b><br />
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In 2014, UNICEF launched the first UPSHIFT program ever in Kosovo. UPSHIFT seeks to create youth-led social impact programs by providing them with the necessary skill training, financial resources and mentorship. The Kosovo program achieved some <a href="http://www.unicefstories.org/2015/03/29/how-do-we-motivate-youth-to-be-agents-of-social-change/">impressive results</a>: More than 126 youth-led projects have been implemented, more than half of which continue even after their engagement with the Lab comes to a close. From these 126 projects there are approximately 61,056 youth directly involved or directly benefited, and 120,630 youth are indirect beneficiaries of these projects.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">All participants, mentors and UPSHIFT Organizers. <br />
UPSHIFT Workshop © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/UPSHIFT Workshop/Truong Viet Hung/ November 2015</td></tr>
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<b>Why did we bring UPSHIFT to Viet Nam? </b><br />
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Nearly 43% of the total population of Viet Nam and 45% in Ho Chi Minh City, where UPSHIFT is being piloted, are under the age of 25. With 20 per cent of 12-18 year old children out of school and 85 percent of youth between the ages of 16-30 not having any technical training, the Vietnamese youth population is large yet unskilled. With a strong local entrepreneurship ecosystem with emerging governmental support, and the large youth population (Over 4 million people under 25 just in Ho Chi Minh city!), the UPSHIFT Social Impact Workshop framework provided an appropriate methodology for piloting. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">UPSHIFT Workshop Opening Remarks © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Kosovo/ UPSHIFTWorkshop/NjomzaKadriu/March 2015</td></tr>
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<b>UNICEF partners with VYE for UPSHIFT </b><br />
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In piloting UPSHIFT, a pillar of the larger By Youth For Youth program, it was critical to empower youth people participating in the program as partners and leaders. We partnered with an organization with the mission of “For Students, By Students”. Founded in 2011, <a href="http://vye.vn/">Viet Youth Entrepreneurs</a>, is Viet Nam's first and only student-run organization for entrepreneurship. Viet Youth Entrepreneurs (VYE)promotes entrepreneurship through bootcamps and trainings delivered by seasoned entrepreneurs and business academics. Viet Youth Entrepreneurs is an excellent partner for UPSHIFT because of the common focus on youth development and empowerment, expertise in delivering experiential learning programs, and a keen ability to leverage their student network to have youth-led volunteers that are able to work closely with the participants.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Viet Youth Entrepreneurs Team.<br />
UPSHIFT Outreach © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/<br />
UPSHIFTOutreach/ October 2015</td></tr>
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<b>Unpredicted Challenge: Problem vs Solution</b><br />
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A series of UPSHIFT ‘recruitment’ events took place in October 2015 through UNICEF-supported social protection centres and schools for children with disabilities. We set out to reach 500 adolescents and young people, with at least 30 percent of whom are disadvantaged or marginalized in some way. <br />
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To help participants identify problems in their communities that they would like to impact, we taught them a mind-mapping method. The idea is simple enough: Put yourself at the center of the map, identify communities you belong to, and brainstorm problems in those communities that you care about. <br />
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Participants were often confused about how to define a specific problem. This could be because in Viet Nam many social projects start because young people read a story in the newspaper or see a TV report rather than experience the problem themselves. Without the personal experience of the issue they want to solve, we found that many participants were often vague or shallow in their descriptions of the problem.<br />
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Therefore for groups that could not easily define a problem in depth, we added an extra step: 5W-H brainstorming, using open-ended W-H questions (Who, What, Where, When, Why – How) to help them understand their communities, the needs of its people and how to address those. Participants are able to make the connections between different aspects in their communities and probe further until they arrive at the problem that they care about and can take specific action on. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4Jq6QujUk_O7xoRxkTZhf5pNaJ8Fd4Qk8Xbq11hAeuIMAyNOsxMcG0173vf7MOqoMMqr0DBdTpobvKbkW2rzFSqjGqiEMwPc-21zdbRlYFjGI7bfNuCLBTKd_4ymS_TYMUlngGeHU31u/s1600/UPSHIFT+journey+-+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4Jq6QujUk_O7xoRxkTZhf5pNaJ8Fd4Qk8Xbq11hAeuIMAyNOsxMcG0173vf7MOqoMMqr0DBdTpobvKbkW2rzFSqjGqiEMwPc-21zdbRlYFjGI7bfNuCLBTKd_4ymS_TYMUlngGeHU31u/s400/UPSHIFT+journey+-+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Outreach event for High School Students at Hoc Mon - suburban district of HCMC<br />
UPSHIFT Outreach Remarks © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/<br />
UPSHIFTOutreach/ October 2015<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Outreach event for High School Students at Hoc Mon - suburban district of HCMC<br />
UPSHIFT Outreach Remarks © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/<br />
UPSHIFTOutreach/ October 2015</td></tr>
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<b>Adapting for the blind: Tactile models</b><br />
The second challenge presented itself when we conducted our outreach session at the Thien An Shelter for the blind in HCMC. As the crux of our outreach sessions is mind-mapping, a decidedly visual technique, our challenge was to either replace mind-mapping with other activities or to adapt mind-mapping for blind students. We went with the latter because we believe mind-mapping proves to be a great way to organize participants’ thinking. We also wanted to ensure that every participant, regardless of their abilities, received the same opportunity. <br />
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To prepare ourselves for this challenge, we visited the school to interview the students and their teacher. <br />
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During our user interviews, we learned that some students are familiar with the concept of mind-mapping. Although they cannot see a mind map, they have read about it. This was a great finding for our preparations. It allowed us to focus less on adapting the technique and more on the delivery of the curriculum. Mr. Phong, the founder and main teacher in the shelter, told us that in order to learn about diagrams, charts and other visual elements, blind students have to have each element of these charts described for them. <br />
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Mr. Phong suggested incorporating tactile elements wherever possible into the program since students are familiar with learning via touch. Heeding the advice, we created a physical model of a mind map. We made sure that different elements on the map have different tactile properties so the students can easily understand the purpose of each. For example, different-sized circles represent different level of thoughts,( i.e. primary issues, root causes, and stakeholders). This helped those who already had knowledge of mind-mapping solidify their understanding of the concept. The participants in our session received the models with enthusiasm. For many, this is the first time they have had the physical experience of a mind map. We continued modelling many of the outreach and workshop curriculum and tools so they can be accessed by blind participants.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Outreach event for visually impaired people at Nhat Hong Specialized Centre,<br />
Thu Duc District, HCMC<br />
UPSHIFT Outreach Remarks © UNICEF/Innovations Lab Ho Chi Minh/<br />
UPSHIFTOutreach/ October 2015</td></tr>
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<b>Expectation and Reality</b><br />
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The goal for the outreach phase was 25 sessions for 500 participants over 6 weeks, 30% of which are disadvantaged, and over 50% to be female. In reality we only had 4 weeks to accomplish this, but through strong collaboration and support we were able to exceed many of our own expectations.
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We did 25 sessions for 681 youth, 36% were from disadvantaged or marginalized communities, and 68% were female. Though the project was focused on ages 14-24 years old, we were careful to ensure the children participated as much as possible, to this end we had 42% of all participants under 18. We also received numerous enquiries and online applications about the project. <br />
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Concluding the outreach phase was a call to action to apply for the UPSHIFT: Social Impact Workshop, a 2.5 day affair that gives 10 teams a chance to make their ideas real. This call to action resulted in an incredible 93 applications, with the following 10 teams achieving the highest results in our judging process: <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapWmJW0Fgstfd1KDSD5o55t0Jrut-SF_UGRlZRQJM9U__dML692kPCROVmXfbG0OiATt7sDXTR8rntLNULWu9spoJcGHy7kgw1SuYvjpm1B663khNzOjnZx_ufBUt8RVNThrBbj5xwTFn/s1600/bang_upshifters.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapWmJW0Fgstfd1KDSD5o55t0Jrut-SF_UGRlZRQJM9U__dML692kPCROVmXfbG0OiATt7sDXTR8rntLNULWu9spoJcGHy7kgw1SuYvjpm1B663khNzOjnZx_ufBUt8RVNThrBbj5xwTFn/s400/bang_upshifters.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Where do we go from here? </b><br />
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Our next step was to deliver the 2.5 day workshop to these 10 teams. As we worked to adapt the curriculum into the local context (both language and situational), we also worked to ensure that the entrepreneur community would have a role to play in supporting the teams not only at the workshop but also in the long term. <br />
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For more information on the current progress of our UPSHIFT program, please check out our website at <a href="http://upshift.vye.vn/">upshift.vye.vn</a>.<a href="http://upshift.vye.vn/"></a> <br />
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<a href="http://upshift.vye.vn/">You can also read the profile of </a>Kim Van and Minh Tuan, two of our participants from the workshop.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<i>Written by Thu Tran & Dai Cao from Viet
Youth Entrepreneurs (VYE)<b><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></b></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<i><span style="color: #222222;">Edited by Brian
Cotter UNICEF Innovation Lab: Viet Nam</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-10872558525498447782016-03-03T16:25:00.002+07:002016-04-13T11:16:06.971+07:00Clipper Race Crew Visit UNICEF Day Care Centre In Da Nang For Children With Disabilities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Clipper Race CEO William Ward along with crew members who are raising money for Official Race Charity UNICEF were invited to The DAVA Centre in the Hoa Vang District of Da Nang this week to see first-hand how UNICEF supports children with disabilities in Vietnam. Opened in May 2011 with the financial support of UNICEF, and managed by the Da Nang Association for Victims of Agent Orange (DAVA) and volunteers, the day care centre receives over 90 children with disabilities every day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<a name='more'></a>There are an estimated 1.3 million children with disabilities in Vietnam, making it one of the largest groups of vulnerable children in need of special protection. The city of Da Nang is particularly affected as its population was exposed to Agent Orange during the war with the United States.<br />
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Ahead of seeing the centre, William Ward explained: “We have twelve yachts and over 700 crew who take part in the Clipper Race and a large proportion of those crew are actively raising funds for UNICEF as they race. So coming to a facility like this, which only exists because of UNICEF fundraising, and being able to meet the children it benefits every day really brings home the vital importance of our partnership.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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The children greeted their Clipper Race crew visitors with big smiles and a special dance performance before Centre Director Madame Nguyen Thi Hien formally welcomed the group, including representatives from UNICEF Viet Nam and explained the purpose of the centre and the important work it does.</div>
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The crew, who represented the UNICEF, Da Nang – Viet Nam, GREAT Britain, Visit Seattle, Garmin, LMAX Exchange, PSP Logistics, Qingdao and Mission Performance teams, got to meet the children as they toured the centre facilities and got involved in activities including colouring, incense stick making, sewing and art. They also met seriously paralysed children who receive massage therapy and respite care at the centre.<br />
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Following the tour, William added: “It has been a pretty heart wrenching visit but having passed the half way stage in the race, this experience makes us even more passionate than ever about fulfilling our fundraising targets and continuing to help support the vital work UNICEF does here and in similar centres. I feel prouder than ever about our decision to support UNICEF and projects like this which are making such huge differences in children’s lives.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</td></tr>
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It was a particularly fitting visit for crew member Mel Thompson, who along with her team is raising money for UNICEF as they race. Mel says: “I am a special needs teacher back home in the UK so I was very interested to come today and see the work of a project that is very close to my heart in that way. It reminded me of the guys I teach back at home and the importance of having facilities like this, no matter where in the world they live, that they can go to and feel safe and happy.</div>
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“I thought the DAVA day centre was an amazing place with very happy children and very happy, dedicated staff. You can see what a challenge it was for all the staff and volunteers to get the resources to keep the level of care going, so it really does bring home the importance of the work UNICEF does. It wouldn’t exist without their help, which is a pretty scary thought.”<br />
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Volunteering at the centre was US Vietnam war veteran Matthew Keenan (Red hat): “It was a different place here in 1971. We would all count down the days until we could leave Da Nang and go home. It wasn’t a fun place. These days however, I count down the days until I get to return.”<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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Three years ago Matthew was diagnosed with cancer which he believes is a result of exposure to Agent Orange, a potent chemical that was spread by US troops during the war and has been linked to many profound health issues and birth defects. He adds: “I did some research into the continuing health problems here and learnt about the children who generations later are still suffering the effects, so I decided to come back. This is my third visit now, volunteering here at the DAVA Day Care facility and I always look forward to returning. Decades after the war ended, it is still not over for these children, and for those like me that were affected.”</div>
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Following the invite to the centre, the children were in return invited for a day out to visit the UNICEF yacht and explore the boat with the guidance of the crew members.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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Jesper Moller, Deputy Country Representative for UNICEF in Viet Nam, says: “The interaction in Da Nang between the Clipper Race crew and the children has been incredibly positive and has provided a great opportunity for people to see the important work UNICEF does on the ground here.<br />
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“Our thanks go to the Clipper Race organisation and the crew who are raising vital funds throughout their race around the world. Seeing is believing and I think it represents a very strong message around the engagement between people which generates change. Hopefully, if the race returns to Vietnam in 2018, we can continue to build on this connection and work together on a longer term partnership here.”<br />
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Skipper Paul Atwood, who leads the UNICEF yacht, said the interaction with the young people with disabilities had put the race challenge into perspective, as he said: “It has been fantastic to learn more about the cause we represent while we are here in Vietnam. Next time I or my crew are feeling cold and wet and are finding life tough on board, we will definitely remember our experience here.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">"We know that there are many people going through far worse each day and that really, we don’t have all that much to complain about in life, especially not in comparison to how these children live and they all still manage to smile and be positive and happy. It’s been a memorable and humbling lesson to learn.”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Photo: UNICEF Viet Nam\2016\Truong Viet Hung</span></td></tr>
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UNICEF works with the government of Vietnam, and in particular the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Education and Training to improve services offered to children with disabilities and build on the model of Da Nang to scale it up nationwide.<br />
<br />
Clipper Race crew and staff have raised over £166,000 for children in need around the world since Race Start. The aim is to raise £300,000 by Race Finish. Click here to donate and help the Clipper Race’s aim to support children in danger around the world.<br />
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All local currency donated to Clipper Race staff before the teams leave Viet Nam for Qingdao will go directly to the DAVA Centre.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/unicefvietnam/photos/ms.c.eJw9ksmRRTEIAzOawuzkn9j4C~_sduwQCZLeXW6h2TvfUXy8fFVM1JRdYk9xhGRH92La~;2W~_x7I~;dUe~;08~;UT~_vlAN~;bfyqufGXLBL9mfuvohJ5jzyzE~;i~;NL4H84r2KZ~;Z1gkceD~_883b~;Yepd~;M8qtPaTD9UnYf5z43oMtC~;zwH9fLyS4V~_jLr6T6~_Jx4a83Vn~;i~;jHRkY~_VW~;fjN1fPsb7VBYZ~_8l8PMvvvhsn6oN64r2kk7z7HO5TW897b~;Crc34jf~_d7Z28exXt77zXe2~;C3of~;oMvebQH98ei~_~;~;hLkW9yvZP3Pp~_~_9~;vzqrH99jPctvlep4T9Nknee0k~;xf415la1f0M8w~;6ZG3jxP~;gPvf7dl.bps.a.847435105365576.1073741861.244741468968279/847436062032147/?type=3&theater">Click here</a> to see images of Clipper Race crew visiting the DAVA Centre on UNICEF Viet Nam’s Facebook Page.<br />
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<b>Watch our video highlights of the visit here:</b><br />
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<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif, Meiryo, 'Malgun Gothic', 'Microsoft YaHei'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif , "meiryo" , "malgun gothic" , "microsoft yahei"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">There are an estimated 1.3 million children with disabilities in Vietnam, making it one of the largest groups of vulnerable children in need of special protection. The city of Da Nang is particularly affected as its population was exposed to Agent Orange during the war with the United States.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif, Meiryo, 'Malgun Gothic', 'Microsoft YaHei'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif , "meiryo" , "malgun gothic" , "microsoft yahei"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Unicef works with the government of Vietnam, and in particular the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Education and Training to improve services offered to children with disabilities and build on the model of Da Nang to scale it up nationwide. </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif, Meiryo, 'Malgun Gothic', 'Microsoft YaHei'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif , "meiryo" , "malgun gothic" , "microsoft yahei"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Clipper Race crew and staff have raised over £166,000 for children in need around the world since Race Start. The aim is to raise £300,000 by Race Finish. Click here to donate and help the Clipper Race’s aim to support children in danger around the world. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif , "meiryo" , "malgun gothic" , "microsoft yahei"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif , "meiryo" , "malgun gothic" , "microsoft yahei"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">Read more here: </span><a class="yt-uix-sessionlink " data-sessionlink="ei=ToHmVvW0PMig4AKFnIu4Bw" href="http://unicefvietnam.blogspot.com/2016/03/clipper-race-crew-visit-unicef-day-care.html" rel="nofollow" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #167ac6; cursor: pointer; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif, Meiryo, 'Malgun Gothic', 'Microsoft YaHei'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://unicefvietnam.blogspot.com/2016/03/clipper-race-crew-visit-unicef-day-care.html</a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-33566456725564019252016-01-21T16:26:00.003+07:002016-01-21T16:26:49.777+07:00AN APPEAL TO END THE SUFFERING IN SYRIAThree years ago, the leaders of UN humanitarian agencies issued an urgent appeal to those who could end the conflict in Syria. They called for every effort to save the Syrian people. “Enough”, they said, of the suffering and bloodshed.<br />
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That was three years ago.</div>
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Now, the war is approaching its sixth brutal year. The bloodshed continues. The suffering deepens.<br />
So today, we – leaders of humanitarian organisations and UN agencies - appeal not only to governments but to each of you - citizens around the world – to add your voices in urging an end to the carnage. To urge that all parties reach agreement on a ceasefire and a path to peace.<br />
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More than ever before, the world needs to hear a collective public voice calling for an end to this outrage. Because this conflict and its consequences touch us all. </div>
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It touches those in Syria who have lost loved ones and livelihoods, who have been uprooted from their homes, or who live in desperation under siege. Today, some 13.5 million people inside Syria need humanitarian assistance. That is not simply a statistic. These are 13.5 million individual human beings whose lives and futures are in jeopardy.</div>
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It touches the families who, with few options for a better future, set out on perilous journeys to foreign lands in search of refuge. The war has seen 4.6 million people flee to neighbouring countries and beyond.</div>
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It touches a generation of children and young people who – deprived of education and traumatized by the horrors they have experienced – increasingly see their future shaped only by violence.<br />
It touches those far beyond Syria who have seen the violent repercussions of the crisis reach the streets, offices and restaurants closer to their homes. </div>
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And it touches all those around the world whose economic wellbeing is affected, in ways visible and invisible, by the conflict.</div>
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Those with the ability to stop the suffering can - and therefore should - take action now. Until there is a diplomatic solution to the fighting, such action should include:</div>
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<li>Unimpeded and sustained access for humanitarian organizations to bring immediate relief to all those in need inside Syria </li>
<li>Humanitarian pauses and unconditional, monitored ceasefires to allow food and other urgent assistance to be delivered to civilians, vaccinations and other health campaigns, and for children to return to school</li>
<li>A cessation of attacks on civilian infrastructure – so that schools and hospitals and water supplies are kept safe</li>
<li>Freedom of movement for all civilians and the immediate lifting of all sieges by all parties </li>
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These are practical actions. There is no practical reason they could not be implemented if there is the will to do so. </div>
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In the name of our shared humanity… for the sake of the millions of innocents who have already suffered so much… and for the millions more whose lives and futures hang in the balance, we call for action now. </div>
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Now.</div>
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<b>21 January 2016</b></div>
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<br />
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairperson, BRAC, Bangladesh<br />
Zairulshahfuddin bin Zainal Abidin, Country Director, Islamic Relief Malaysia<br />
Ryoko Akamatsu, Chairperson, Japan Committee for UNICEF<br />
Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, CEO, Plan International<br />
Richard Allen, CEO, Mentor Initiative<br />
Dr. Haytham Alhamwi, Director, Rethink Rebuild <br />
Steen M. Andersen, Executive Director, Danish Committee for UNICEF<br />
Barry Andrews, CEO, GOAL Ireland<br />
Nancy A. Aossey, President and CEO, International Medical Corp<br />
Bernt G. Apeland, Executive Director, Norwegian Committee for UNICEF<br />
Dr. Mohamed Ashmawey, CEO, Islamic Relief Worldwide<br />
Elhadj As Sy, Secretary General, CEO, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies<br />
Lina Sergie Attar, co-founder and CEO, Karam Foundation<br />
Carmelo Angulo Barturen, President, Spanish Committee for UNICEF <br />
Gudrun Berger, Executive Director, Austrian Committee for UNICEF<br />
Tomaž Bergoč, Executive Director, Slovenian Foundation for UNICEF <br />
David Bull, Executive Director, United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF<br />
Marie-Pierre Caley, CEO, ACTED<br />
Adriano Campolina, Chief Executive, Actionaid<br />
CARE Netherlands<br />
Tineke Ceelen, Director, Stichting Vluchteling, Netherlands<br />
Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization <br />
Jonny Cline, Executive Director, The Israeli Fund for UNICEF<br />
Sarah Costa, Executive Director, Women’s Refugee Commission<br />
Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme<br />
Emese Danks, Executive Director, UNICEF Hungarian Committee Foundation<br />
Maryanne Diamond, Chair, International Disability Alliance <br />
Hisham Dirani, CEO, BINAA Organization for Development<br />
Edukans, Netherlands<br />
Jan Egeland, Secretary-General, Norwegian Refugee Council<br />
Patricia Erb, President and CEO, Save the Children Canada<br />
Sanem Bilgin Erkurt, Executive Director, Turkish National Committee for UNICEF <br />
Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO, Heifer International <br />
Amy Fong, Chief Executive, Save the Children Hong Kong<br />
Justin Forsyth, CEO, Save the Children UK<br />
Michel Gabaudan, President, Refugees International<br />
Meg Gardinier, Secretary General, ChildFund Alliance<br />
Global Call to Action against Poverty<br />
Mark Goldring, Chief Executive, Oxfam Great Britain<br />
Pavla Gomba, Executive Director, Czech Committee for UNICEF<br />
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees<br />
Madalena Grilo, Executive Director, Portuguese Committee for UNICEF<br />
Noreen Gumbo, Head of Humanitarian Programmes, Trócaire<br />
Handicap International, Belgium<br />
Abdullah Hanoun, CEO, Syrian Community of the South West UK <br />
Heather Hayden, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children New Zealand<br />
Dr. Dirk Hegmanns, Regional Director Turkey/Syria/Iraq, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe<br />
Anne-Marie Helland, General Secretary, Norwegian Church Aid <br />
Anne Hery, Director for Advocacy and Institutional Relations, Handicap International<br />
International Organization for Migration, Netherlands <br />
W. Douglas Jackson, President and CEO, PROJECT C.U.R.E.<br />
Wolfgang Jamann, Secretary General, Care International<br />
Kevin Jenkins, President and CEO, World Vision International<br />
Bergsteinn Jónsson, Executive Director, Icelandic National Committee for UNICEF<br />
Benoit Van Keirsbilck, Director, DEI-Belgique<br />
Thomas G. Kemper, General Secretary, General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church<br />
Neal Keny-Guyer, Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Corps<br />
Kerk in Actie, Netherlands<br />
Marja-Riitta Ketola, Executive Director, Finnish Committee for UNICEF <br />
Peter Klansoe, Regional Director, Danish Refugee Council, Middle East North Africa region <br />
Pim Kraan, Director, Save the Children Netherlands<br />
Marek Krupiński, Executive Director, Polish National Committee for UNICEF<br />
Dr. Hans Kuenzle, Chair, Swiss Committee for UNICEF<br />
Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF<br />
Jane Lau, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF<br />
Lavinia Limón, President and CEO, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants<br />
Jonas Keiding Lindholm, CEO Save the Children Denmark<br />
Rosa G. Lizarde, Global Director, Feminist Task Force<br />
Olivier Longue, CEO, Accion Contra el Hambre<br />
John Lyon, President, World Hope International<br />
Sébastien Lyon, Executive Director, French Committee for UNICEF<br />
Dominic MacSorley, Chief Executive Officer, Concern Worldwide<br />
Dirk Van Maele, Director, Plan België<br />
Cécil Van Maelsaeke, Director, Tearfund, Belgium <br />
Vivien Maidaborn, Executive Director, The New Zealand National Committee for UNICEF<br />
Blanca Palau Mallol, President, Andorran Committee for UNICEF<br />
Rev. John L. McCullough, President and CEO, Church World Service<br />
Carolyn Miles, President and CEO, Save the Children USA<br />
David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee<br />
Mr. Juraj Mišura, President, Slovak Committee for UNICEF<br />
James Mitchum, Chief Executive Officer, Heart to Heart International<br />
David Morley, President and CEO, Canadian UNICEF Committee<br />
John Nduna, General Secretary, ACT Alliance<br />
Stephen O’Brien, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator<br />
Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund<br />
Ignacio Packer, Secretary-General, Terre des Hommes International Federation <br />
People in Need<br />
Dato Dr Ahmad Faizal Perdaus, President, Mercy Malaysia<br />
Plan, Norway<br />
Peter Power, Executive Director, UNICEF Ireland<br />
Sarina Prabasi, Chief Executive Officer, WaterAid America<br />
Chris Proulx, President and CEO, LINGOS, United States<br />
Dr. Jihad Qaddour, President, Syria Relief and Development <br />
Red Cross, Netherlands<br />
Curtis N. Rhodes Jr., International Director, Questscope<br />
Michel Roy, Secretary General, Caritas International<br />
Paolo Rozera, Executive Director, Italian Committee for UNICEF<br />
Dr. Tessie San Martin, President and CEO, Plan International USA<br />
Christian Schneider, Executive Director, German Committee for UNICEF<br />
Rev. Thomas H. Smolich, S.J. International Director, Jesuit Refugee Service<br />
Janti Soeripto, Interim CEO, Save the Children, International <br />
SOS Kinderdorpen, Netherlands <br />
Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO, United States Fund for UNICEF<br />
Marie Soueid, Policy Counsel, Center for Victims of Torture <br />
John Stewart, President, Australian Committee for UNICEF Limited<br />
Odd Swarting, Chair, Swedish Committee for UNICEF<br />
William L. Swing, Director General, International Organization for Migration <br />
Florence Syevuo, Global Call to Action against Poverty, Kenya <br />
Daigo Takagi, Association for Aid and Relief, Japan<br />
Tearfund, UK<br />
Terre des Hommes International Federation<br />
Constantine M. Triantafilou, Executive Director and CEO, International Orthodox Christian Charities<br />
Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary, World Council of Churches<br />
Monique van ‘t Hek, Director, Plan Nederland <br />
Dr. William Vendley, Secretary General, Religions for Peace<br />
Pierre Verbeeren, Director, Medecins du Monde, Belgium <br />
Damien Vincent, Executive Director, Belgium Committee for UNICEF<br />
Sandra Visscher, Executive Director, Luxembourg Committee for UNICEF<br />
Vrouwen tegen Uitzetting, Netherlands<br />
Tove Wang, CEO, Save the Children Norway<br />
David A. Weiss, President and CEO, Global Communities<br />
Kathrin Wieland, CEO, Save the Children Germany<br />
Jan Bouke Wijbrandi, Executive Director, Dutch Committee for UNICEF<br />
Nancy E. Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Relief International<br />
Carolyn Woo, President and CEO, Catholic Relief Services<br />
Daniel Wordsworth, President and CEO, American Refugee Committee<br />
Samuel A. Worthington, CEO, InterAction <br />
Leila Zerrougui, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict<br />
Mohammad Zia-ur-Rehman, Chief Executive, AwazCDS and Pakistan Development Alliance</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-78115176936791696952016-01-21T13:56:00.004+07:002016-01-21T13:56:59.058+07:00#SyriaCrisis: 5 years of suffering in 60 seconds.The #SyriaCrisis has raged for five brutal years. Take 60 seconds to watch, share and show your support to help end the suffering.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6145317682316225437.post-25861307502018476332016-01-18T12:11:00.000+07:002016-01-18T12:15:27.519+07:00What does child-sensitive planning mean for equitable advancement? Viet Nam has made impressive progress in the realisation of women’s and children’s rights. One of the key guiding principles for its development is the Socio-economic Development Plan (SEDP) that promotes economic growth combined with the implementation of social advance, equality and improvement of life quality. However, there are still millions of Vietnamese children deprived of essential needs including education, health, water and sanitation, shelter, refrained child labour, leisure and social protection. Let’s follow the story of Tao, a Tay ethnic minority girl to see what policy makers could do to change the situations with their socio-economic development planning.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vswtC6SbShQ" width="540"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09301693440950316435noreply@blogger.com0