Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Paul Jansen visits Mang Canh Kindergarten in Kon Plong district in Kon Tum province (Photo courtesy of Belgian Embassy)HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Belgian government is placing priority on a numberof non-refundable projects in education, public health, water andsanitation in Vietnam, Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Paul Jansen said during avisit to the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum.
Duringthe visit from December 11-13, Jansen surveyed the progress ofBelgian-funded projects in Kon Tum, Ha Tinh and Nghe An provinces
Theprojects include “Support for Responsive Accountable LocalGovernance” with a budget of 1 million euros (1.11 million USD) for eachprovince. It aims to strengthen citizen-government engagement as a meansof promoting more transparent, accountable and responsive local governance.
It alsotargets improving delivery of public services and increasedlevels of citizen satisfaction, while conducting mutual learning between thethree provinces and with other national institutions.
TheBelgian government has also funded educationprojects implemented by the non-governmental organisations PlanInternational and Education for Development.
The project“We Strive for a Just World that Advances Children’s Rights and Equality forGirls” is being carried out from 2017 to 2021 in Kon Plong andSin Ho districts in Kon Tum and Lai Chau provinces, in partnership withthe Vietnam Women's Union and Live andLearn with a budget of 2.5 million euros.
Based ona child-centred development approach, the project focuses on the rights toa high-quality education and a smooth transition to primaryschool for children under eight years old.
Anotherproject, “Mitigating Preschool Children’s Barriers to Learning inDisadvantaged and Ethnically Diverse Districts-BAMI” from 2017-2021, hasa budget of 4.142 million euros. It focuses on improving the qualityof learning of three- to five-year-old children in early childhood education inpoor ethnic minority districts in Kon Tum, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai.
Itstrengthens the competencies of pre-school teachersin process-oriented child monitoring and enables preschool teachers toaddress gender, and environmental and ethnic diversity barriers to learning andparticipation, and ensures deep learning among all children.
Over thelast four decades, the Belgian Development Cooperation programme has supportedVietnam in a number of areas, especially infrastructure-focused projectsand poverty reduction, among others.
Kon Tum provincewas the first area in the Central Highlands region selected by theBelgian government to be given support through both governmental andnon-governmental channels./.
VNA
