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Delegates attending the event observed a minute of silence to commemorate the storm and flood victims.
(Photo: VNA) |
The event has become an important annual activity of the Switzerland-Vietnam Friendship Association in recent years, raising funds to support the association’s charitable activities.
In her speech, President of the Switzerland-Vietnam Friendship Association Anjuska Weil announced the amount of money raised in the past time, as well as the charity programs that the association is implementing in Vietnam, notably the “micro-credit” initiative to help disadvantaged families.
“Since the beginning of this year, the association has implemented specific activities to build five new houses for disadvantaged people in Vietnam and help upgrade three other houses. As of June this year, about 4,000 credits were granted to households for economic development. This program has been implemented since 2005, in which households wishing to borrow credit submit their proposals, then the Switzerland - Vietnam Friendship Association will evaluate the feasibility of the proposals. Through this program, the credits are used in a variety of ways, from raising livestock to opening a food business," Ms. Anjuska Weil shared.
Also in the program, Ms. Ngoc Dung Moser, General Secretary of the Vietnamese Association in Switzerland, informed about the teaching activities of Binh Minh School. Established in 2017, Binh Minh is the first Vietnamese language school in Zurich with the desire to contribute to preserving and promoting Vietnamese language and culture among young people of Vietnamese origin in Switzerland. At the same time, it is also a bridge and a means to contribute to spreading the national language and culture, as well as expressing the love for the Fatherland of those who live far from their homeland.
On this occasion, Vietnamese Ambassador to Switzerland Phung The Long thanked the Switzerland -Vietnam Friendship Association for the good feelings and support for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, as well as those in difficult circumstances in remote areas of Vietnam.
“Apart from that, the Government and people of Switzerland are always by the side of the Vietnamese people in difficult times due to natural disasters. Recently, Typhoon Yagi led to flash floods, landslides in 26 provinces and cities of Vietnam, causing nearly 300 deaths and missing people, causing damage to the Vietnamese economy of more than 2 billion USD. The Swiss Government's humanitarian aid agency immediately sent a team of experts to Vietnam and allocated a credit of 1 million Francs, helping the victims stabilize their lives and restore production soon," the diplomat said.
"Together with the Swiss Government, the Switzerland - Vietnam Friendship Association and associations in the Vietnamese community in Switzerland have been organizing fundraising activities to share the difficulties with people in disaster-hit areas," Ambassador Phung The Long emphasized.
On the Solidarity Day with Vietnam, the Switzerland-Vietnam Friendship Association organized art performances imbued with Vietnamese national identity and activities to support people affected by storm No. 3 and floods in some northern provinces of Vietnam./.