Youth-led initiatives bring vitality to frontier communes
The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s chapter in Dong Nai City has coordinated and organised numerous activities in the borderlands to enhance social welfare, support education, and improve living conditions and infrastructure.
In April, the city’s youth union chapter launched a programme entitled ‘Dong Nai Youth Joins Hands for the Fatherland’s Borderlands’ across eight border communes. In Tan Tien commune, projects included the “National Flag Road”, repainting and upgrading children’s playgrounds at kindergartens, and promoting the history of the Ho Chi Minh Vanguard Children’s Union.
According to Pham The Cong, Chairman of the Dong Nai City Youth Chapter, youth activities in border areas focused on educating and raising awareness among children and young people about border, sea, and island sovereignty.
A highlight was an exhibition on the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago and Uncle Ho, designed to nurture patriotism, love for the sea and islands, and a sense of responsibility in protecting the Fatherland’s sacred sovereignty.
Youth activities in border areas focused on educating and raising awareness among children and young people about border, sea, and island sovereignty.
The programme also featured legal education spaces and training classes for children, covering self-defence and personal protection skills, identifying risks, and handling unsafe situations in daily life.
Bu Gia Map is a border commune in a remote and disadvantaged area, where 75% of the population belongs to ethnic minority communities. Located about 200km from central Dong Nai City, the commune covers a vast area with uneven population distribution and an economy almost entirely reliant on agriculture, leaving residents facing considerable challenges.
Nguyen Minh Quang, a participant in Bu Gia Map commune, expressed his delight at contributing to border communes with large ethnic minority populations. “Alongside youth projects, we also joined hands to improve local landscapes, playgrounds, and community spaces,” he said.
Dieu Thi Huynh Dinh, a pupil at Dak A Primary School in Bu Gia Map commune, shared: “We are very happy when youth union members come to volunteer at our school. They bring joyful activities and donate facilities for us to play and exercise after lessons.”
Women’s Union and inland communes extend support to border communities
In recent years, the Dong Nai City Women’s Union has carried out practical initiatives to support women in border areas, including vocational training, funding for household economic development, and caring for their material and spiritual wellbeing.
Le Thi Thanh Loan, Chairwoman of the Dong Nai City Women’s Union, noted that since 2026, the Union has worked with border guards to implement communication activities raising public awareness of the Border Guard Law and the role of women in safeguarding border lines and markers. The Union has also provided scholarships for disadvantaged pupils in border areas.
More than 50 inland communes and wards have signed commitments with 16 border posts and eight border communes to implement the model ‘Mainlanders Support the Borderlands – Joining Hands for Community Welfare’.
Border-focused initiatives in Dong Nai City reflect the strong support of inland communities for the borderlands. They have not only enhanced the material and spiritual life of local people but also firmly reinforced the people-based defence posture in frontier areas.
Through this model, inland units have sponsored livelihood support, mobilised funding for essential civil projects, and coordinated regular medical check-ups, treatment, and free medicine distribution for border residents.
In addition, inland localities have funded improvements to accommodation and living conditions, provided clean water and solar power, and built social housing for border officers and soldiers. Colonel Pham Van Dang, Political Commissar of the Dong Nai City Border Guard Command, emphasised that the model aimed to consolidate the all-people defence posture in the border region.
These border-focused initiatives in Dong Nai City have delivered numerous civil projects and social welfare programmes, reflecting the strong support of inland communities for the borderlands. They have not only enhanced the material and spiritual life of local people but also firmly reinforced the people-based defence posture in frontier areas.
