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| Australian guests take a city double-decker tour (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn) |
This is the first international famtrip the Hanoi Department of Tourism has hosted in the post COVID-19 pandemic period, reported VOV.
During their stay, the Australian guests visited a number of popular tourist destinations in Hanoi, along with those in neighbouring Quang Ninh, and Ninh Binh provinces.
They surveyed a number of famous tourist attractions around the capital, including the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Old Quarter, the Temple of Literature (first university in Vietnam), Bat Trang ancient pottery village, and Ha Thai lacquer village.
They also took a double-decker bus tour, sampled local street food, and enjoyed performances displaying folklores in the northern region, including water puppetry shows.
According to the Hanoi Department of Tourism, the event was part of Hanoi’s efforts to introduce its destinations and fresh tourism products to Australian travel agencies, and to ramp up tourism promotion in an effective manner.
The department plans to receive more famtrip and presstrip delegations from other potential markets next year.
UNICEF leader values Vietnam’s achievements in child protection, care
The Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Catherine Russell, highly valued Vietnam’s achievements in child protection and care during a three-day visit to Vietnam that concluded on November 13, reported VNA.
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| UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell in the trip to Gia Lai province (Source: UNICEF) |
UNICEF Vietnam cited Russell as saying that over the past decades, Vietnam has made great strides in ensuring that children nationwide are healthy and safe, able to access education, and given favourable conditions to fully tap into their potential.
She said UNICEF will continue cooperating with the Vietnamese Government and partners so that all children, especially the most vulnerable, can access necessary services and assistance.
Aside from the achievements, child protection and care efforts in Vietnam are still encountering numerous challenges, she noted, elaborating that some children are still suffering from poverty and lack of access to protection and basic services. They are ethnic minority children, those whose parents working faraway, and those with disabilities.
This situation has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts, she added.
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| Students disinfect hands before entering their school. |
Besides, she said, severe child malnutrition is still recorded.
During the trip, Russell engaged in several activities in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, where she visited some healthcare establishments where examination and treatment are provided for malnourished children.
She noted that UNICEF is working to persuade the treatment of severe and chronic malnutrition to be included in the national health insurance scheme in Vietnam, and promote social allowances to prevent child malnutrition.
The UNICEF leader also pointed out other risks facing children, including climate change impacts, while Vietnam is one of the most vulnerable to natural disasters, including flooding and landslides.
She highly valued the Vietnamese Government’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis and risks caused by climate change to children.
Investment in improving adaptability and resilience is the key to settling climate issues as well as inequalities caused by climate change in the future, Russell said.
In Vietnam, UNICEF has been assisting the Government to train teachers and reform school curricula. These efforts will help children adapt to climate change and improve their capability of creating solutions, she added.
Rain expected ahead of cold spell arrival
According to VOV, northern Vietnam is expected to endure a long spell of rain for several ays, starting on November 14, before a cold air wave hits this weekend.
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| Rain is lashing localities across the country in coming days. (Source: vov.vn) |
The ongoing cold spell is weakening and moving east, creating conditions for clouds to form and cause rain in northern localities, said the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecasting.
Rain is forecast to fall between November 14-19, sending temperatures tumbling to a low of 17 degrees Celsius in the highlands and 22 degrees Celsius in the plain.
However, daytime temperatures are forecast to remain high, ranging between 27-30 degrees Celsius across the regions.
Rain will also lash central and Central Highland and southern regions in the coming days.
Meanwhile, a cold spell is anticipated to hit the north this weekend, causing temperatures to drop considerably to 20-26 degrees Celsius in the plain, including Hanoi.
Meteorologists say that cold air waves during this period mainly cause strong winds and big waves in the Gulf of Tonkin. On the mainland, temperatures fall slightly early in the morning and late at night, and people have yet to feel the obvious cold during the day.
A strong cold spell is expected to strike northern Vietnam in the second half of December, and more such spells will be seen more often in January and the first half of February 2023./.