Where we work

LAO CAI

Bac Ha is located in the mountainous northeast of Lao Cai province and one of the poorest districts in Vietnam. With a total natural area of 686.78 km², Bac Ha is divided into 21 administrative units (20 communes and 1 township). Its population is about 62,236 people and half of them are poor, making the poverty rate of the district is at 47.21%, which is much higher than average national poverty rate at 8.4% (Asian Development Bank, Poverty in Viet Nam, 2016) . Many obstacles are braking the development of the education in this area namely poor infrastructure and teaching facilities; language barriers which prevent ethnic minority children to access equal education opportunities; teachers with limited capacity on child centered methodology; children with limited life skills; school dropout, early marriage, migration and human trafficking; lack of market oriented vocational training, lack of job opportunities and career orientation for youths; poverty…

In July 2017, Aide et Action Vietnam, with its local partners, launched the project to improve the inclusive development for ethnic minority children and youth in Lao Cai province. Its specific objectives are as follow:

Improved knowledge of ethnic minority students on life skills and child protection through introducing specific topics on gender equality, life skills, personal safety, children’s rights, local culture and customs and human trafficking prevention into classroom
Improved nutritional status of children through improving knowledge/skill for parents, community members and local authorities on child care and education and improving families’ livelihood
Enhanced market-oriented vocational training for ethnic students through integrating career orientation in school syllabus and improving skills/ knowledge of teachers and students on sustainable vocational training and job placement.

LAI CHAU

Lai Chau is located 450 kilometres away from capital of Hanoi, situated at the altitude of 1,500m above sea level, comprising high mountains, pure streams and rivers. It shares borderline with Yun Nan province of China. The weather is cool and mostly foggy all the year round, making it a visionary land in between mountains. The annual average temperature is from 21oC – 23oC, with two seasons, hot-rainy and dry-cold seasons. The whole province’s area is about 9,071 sq. km, with a population of only 325,000 people.

Lai Châu has long been the poorest province in Vietnam with the poverty rate at 23.72%, according to the provincial socio-economic development report of Lai Chau People’s committee 2014;. Lai Châu’s main agricultural products (in 2007) are rice, maize, casava and tea. The production of rice and maize tripled since 2000, while the output of cassava and tea has been increasing by around 40% and 120%.Tea from Lai Châu is sold to other provinces in Vietnam and also exported to other countries.

Tam Duong district where the project is implemented

Tam Duong is one of the most difficult areas of Lai Chau province with the poverty rate ranging from 20% – 25%. Majority of the population in Tam Duong district are ethinic minorities. In the three targeted communes of Ta Leng, Nung Nang and Khun Ha, 100% of the population come from ethnic minority groups, among those H’Mong ethnic group, which is considered as the most disadvantaged ethnic group in Vietnam, consists of 90%, 97% and 99% in Ta Leng, Khun Ha and Nung Nang communes respectively.

The district has a total population of 57,307 people, who are made up of sixteen different ethnic groups including Dao, Tay, Nung, H’mong, Thai, Chinese, Giay, etc. Of the total population, there are up to 39,801 ethnic minority people, accounting for 38% of the district’s total population, living concentrated on 26 villages.

The District has 14 sub-administrative units, which include 01 township and 13 rural communes. It is noticeable that 2/3 of these communes are remote and difficult for vehicular access, especially in rainy season.

The local population’s living conditions in these areas are low, particularly in villages inhabited by ethnic minority people. A larger proportion of these villagers suffer infrequent food shortage every year as a result of frequent crop failure due to drought, inundation in low lying areas and price fluctuations. Infrastructure, particularly inter village and commune off-roads, are in bad condition. Most of the communes and villages are very difficult for vehicular access in rainy season. Off roads become very dusty in dry season. 50% of schools and health stations are also in bad condition, especially those in remote communes.

Poor infrastructure, high illiteracy rate, limited opportunities for off-farm employment and unfavourable climatic conditions in recent years have driven the locals into more difficulties to inclusive quality education, and enhanced livelihoods activities.

Current project running in Lai Chau:

Promoting inclusive and relevant early childhood care and education for ethnic minority and disadvantaged children from 2016 to 2020

HOA BINH

Hoa Binh is a mountainous area, contiguous to Red River Delta and has several roads and waterways. Being located at 76 km from Hanoi from the Southwest, Hoa Binh is the gate of Northwest region.

The province has 10 districts and 1 city, including Da Bac, Mai Chau, Tan Lac, Lac Son, Kim Boi, Luong Son, Lac Thuy, Yen Thuy, Ky Son, Cao Phong districts and Hoa Binh city.

The project locates in 3 communes, Doan Ket, Tien Phong and Vay Nua, of Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province.

Fig. 1. Project area map, Hoa Binh province

According to General Statistics Office, in 2013, Hoa Binh has totally 460,900 ha of natural land^[1].

^{[1] http://thongtindoingoai.hoabinh.gov.vn/index.php/en/introduction/277-introduce-about-hoa-binh}

The project locates in 3 communes, Doan Ket, Tien Phong and Vay Nua, of Da Bac district. Da Bac is the poorest district in Hoa Binh province. The total population is 50, 960 people. Local people depend mostly on agriculture and forestry for their livelihoods. In these remote mountain zones, terrain is rugged, and poor-quality soil is difficult to farm. Farm land holdings are small despite the vast area. This place is also physically hard to contact due to poor infrastructure, leading. Poverty remains a critical issue here, with alarming poverty rate of 33,86%, followed with high malnutrition in children: 18% children are underweight and 23,8% children are stunted (2014 data). The situation is due to a fact: children do not have sufficient nutrition needed in their daily meals, especially at home. About education, there are many difficulties although government’s investment has been made: teacher capacities need improvement; shortage of classrooms, kitchens, teaching aids; parents are lack of child-care knowledge and skills and haven’t paid enough attention on education.

To respond to these difficulties, Aide et Action has implemented the project:

Improving child education quality and development for ethnic minority children in Hoa Binh province from 2015 to 2018

THAI NGUYEN

Located in the North of Vietnam, Thai Nguyen is a mountainous province, bordering the Capital of Ha Noi to the North and 5 other provinces Vinh Phuc, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Lang Son and Tuyen Quang. Its total area is 3,541 km2. There are 9 districts (Pho Yen, Phu Binh, Dong Hy, Dai Tu, Vo Nhai, Phu Luong, Dinh Hoa, Song Cong and Thai Nguyen city) with 180 communes of which many are mountainous. The total population is 1.2 million, of which there are 31.2% ethnic minorities with 8 groups Kinh, Tay, Nung, H’Mong, San Diu, San Chay, Dao and Hoa. Thai Nguyen’s population is 1.123.116 inhabitants with 285,790 households of which 58,791 poor households (20.57%). Children malnutrition rate is 23.89%.

For early childhood care and education, at the time AEA start activities, Thai Nguyen still faced a many challenges including lack of infrastructure such as classroom, kitchen, latrine, lack of learning and teaching materials, toys and games, teachers’ qualification, low awareness of parents on the importance of early education, high malnutrion rate (23.89%).

Aide et Action interventions from 2009 to 2015 in Thai Nguyen focus on Early Childhood Care and Education with 2 projects:

Early childhood care and education in Phu Luong, from 2009 to 2011

Prevention of malnutrition through parenting education from 2012 to 2015

PHU YEN

Phu Yen is a coastal province located in the south of the central of Vietnam. It consists of three zones: mountainous area, highlands and lowlands. It shares the border with Binh Dinh province in the North, Khanh Hoa province in the south, Dac Lac and Gia Lai provinces in the west with Pacific Ocean in the east. Its area is 5,045 km², the populationin 2010is868,514inhabitants. There are about 30minoritiesincludingCham, Ede, BaNa, Hre, Chinese, Mnong,Raglai which arethe oldestethnic groupsthat livedon the land ofPhuYen. GDP/personisabout779,000 VND/ month. Throughoutthe province, there are 45,606familiesliving below thepoverty line.

(19.5%) and 33,437 families near the poverty line (14%). Malnutrition among children under 5 years is high: 31.8% of stunting children and 19.1% of underweight children.

Administratively, Phu Yen is divided into eight districts and one city. The city of Tuy Hoa, cultural, economic and political center, is located 561 km north of Ho Chi Minh City and 1,160 kilometers south of Ha Noi.

Although Phu Yen has a geographical location and natural resources favorable for socio-economic development, the rate of poor families is still high; the life of the population is still difficult, especially in rural and remote areas.

In Phu Yen, Aide et Action focused on two themes including Early childhood care and Education and Access and Quality of Education with following projects:

ECCE Phu Yen

Reading rooms in Phu Yen

Engaging minority and non-minority communities in early childhood care and development

KHANH HOA

Located in the South of the Center of Vietnam, Khanh Hoa is a coastal province privileged by naturally beautiful landscape. It is adjacent to Phu Yen Province to the North, DakLak and Lam Dong provinces to the West, and NinhThuan Province to the South. Khanh Hoa has an area of 5 179 km2 with a long beach of 386 km that extends from Vung Ro to Cam Ranh. Its capital Nha Trang is considered as one of the most 29 beautiful bays of the world.

The total population in 2012 is 1,183.0000 million habitants, and made up of mainly the Kinh ethnic group, but other groups can still be found there in relatively small numbers. They include Raglai, Hoa, Co Ho and Cham. The province has 9 administrative units includig 2 cities and 7 districts.

Aide et Action started its interventions in Khanh Hoa in 2003 with focus on three main themes including Early childhood care and education, Acess and Quality of education and Inclusive Education with following projects:

ECCE Van Ninh

ECCE Suoi Cat

Cantine Dai Lanh

Education of environmental protection in pre-schools

Reading rooms in Cam Ranh

Socio-educational and sanitary support to minorities in Dien Khanh