CEMA Deputy Head Le Son Hai at the workshop (Photo: CPV)
So confirmed Le Son Hai, Deputy Head of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA), during a workshop reviewing the project which was held on December 7 in Hanoi.
Funded by the EU and ActionAid, the project was implemented during July 2017 to December 2021 in Krong Bong District, Dak Lak Province and Lam Ha District, Lam Dong Province.
The overall objective of the project is to strengthen the activities of people's organizations towards improving access to quality healthcare and gender-sensitive services for disadvantaged groups in rural and ethnic minority-inhabited areas in Vietnam.
The project has mobilized local authorities, communities and stakeholders to improve sexual and reproductive health public services in Vietnam. In each district where the project was implemented, local budget allocation for reproductive health services has increased significantly over the past two years.
The project’s 2 clinics linked with the national insurance system (Photo: CPV)
After 4 years of operation, two gender-sensitive, rights-based clinics have been well established with direct linkage to the national insurance system. As a result, more than 90,000 people (equivalent to 60% of the district population who are young people and women) in the two project districts have been supported to access high-quality, gender-sensitive, transparent, and effective reproductive healthcare (RH) services.
According to CEMA Deputy Head Le Son Hai, the project is recognized as an effective effort contributing to the achievement Decision 498’s specific goal of preventing and reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriages in ethnic minorities by 2025.
“The EU would continue supporting Vietnam to pursue the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), following the equality principle of leaving no one behind”, the Representative of the EU Delegation to Vietnam affirmed at the workshop.
Following more than 30 years of cooperation with Vietnam, the EU is now a strategic partner of Vietnam in many areas, including development, trade and investment. During the period 2010-2020, health and energy were the key focal sectors of EU - Vietnam bilateral cooperation. During the period 2021-2027, the EU aims to promote a climate-responsive digital circular economy; support responsible entrepreneurship and enhanced skills for decent employment; and strengthen governance, rule of law and institutional reform so as to boost Vietnam’s sustainable development./.