The project, funded by UNICEF, will be implemented from November 2016 to February 2017 with a total investment of nearly VND3 billion (over US$125,000).
Speaking at the signing ceremony, UNICEF Vietnam’s Acting Representative, Jesper Moller, said that the project would improve the conditions of access to clean water and sanitary practices for 30,000 vulnerable people, including 10,000 students and 15,000 women in the six provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Ben Tre, Soc Trang, Kon Tum and Gia Lai.
The project is expected to contribute to raising management capacity in implementing initiatives to recover and enhance resistance to drought and salt intrusion in the six affected provinces, as well as boosting communication on clean water and sanitation for schools, households and communities.
This is the first time the VRCS has co-ordinated with UNICEF to directly implement a project to improve the lives of children and residents, particularly as relates to clean water, in the Mekong River Delta after the incident of drought and saltwater intrusion.
VRCS Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu expressed her hope that UNICEF would co-operate with the association to develop more activities to support needy people—particularly children with disabilities, the poor and those living in difficult circumstances.
Since Vietnam was reunified in 1976, UNICEF has actively helped Vietnamese people and children through various charity activities. Vietnam was also one of the earliest signatories to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
