Welcome 11th APEC Women Leader’s Network Meeting in Hanoi

The Russian Government on April 18 presented Vietnam with a number of documents on the relations between the former Soviet Union and Vietnam.

Labor unions should help women get jobs, a Vietnamese labor official said at a conference in Hanoi Tuesday on the role of the unions in preventing trafficking of women and children.

The Viet Nam-US Society has expressed its condolences over the death of William Coffin, a well-known peace activist and leader of the Anti-Vietnam war movement in the US during the 1960s and '70s.

A woman of small business has made a contribution to founding the overseas Vietnamese Group and opening a Vietnamese school in Cambodia. When getting older, she opened a Vietnamese newspaper stall in Phnom Penh and became a sponsor for Vietnamese misleading girls.

Poverty alleviation is Vietnam's overriding concern and the Government's approach to this issue has been praiseworthy, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has said in a report on March 30 of the results of its economic and social survey of Asia and the Pacific in 2006.

The Associated Press (AP) on April 2 carried an article saying that the poignant wartime diaries of a Vietnamese military surgeon, named Dang Thuy Tram, have reconciled the US and Viet Nam after a US intelligence officer saved them from being burned.

In the 1950s, there were only few Vietnamese language classes in America. Since then, several Vietnamese Studies Departments have been established at famous US universities and have educated many scholars in Vietnamese studies. In recent years, many of these scholars have visited Vietnam on study tours.

Visitors to the first international photo festival opened in Sarcelles city, 20 km east of Paris, France, on April 8, signed their names into a petition, expressing their support to Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims in the lawsuit against US chemical producers.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has decided to provide Vietnam with US $15 million to help in contagious disease control.

The Roever Educational Programme of the US, REAP International, has presented 40 scholarships, each worth 600,000 VND, to poor students in southern Binh Thuan, Ben Tre, Dong Nai and Tra Vinh provinces.

A get-together was held in Hanoi on April 7 to celebrate the traditional New Year festival of Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar, drawing a crowd of diplomatic corps, officials and students of these nationalities.

The Vietnamese State and Government always helps facilitate the overseas Vietnamese community in Laos in conformity with Lao legal regulations.

Vietnam's water puppetry has attracted almost 1,000 French children to each show presented at the on-going Imagine Festival in Paris, said the festival's organising board.

The US plans to donate US$3.3 million to support the continuation of mine removal in Vietnam in fiscal year 2006, its embassy in Hanoi said in a press release on Tuesday.

Shin Sakurai, former Chairman of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), spoke highly of Viet Nam's achievements in population affairs, hunger elimination and poverty reduction at a seminar in Ha Noi on April 5.

Brunei's Crown Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah and his wife Wednesday donated US$50,000 to the Vietnam Association for Agent Orange Victims to help its poor members.

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Bill Tweddell yesterday waved a flag to start a race called ChallengeMD! with the participation of 32 Australian riders to raise money to help fight Muscular Dystrophy (MD) and raise awareness of MD.

Australian artist Nerine Martini opened an exhibition in Hanoi Friday displaying her sculpture based on a traditional boat from the central Vietnamese town of Hoi An.

Vietnamese, Thai and Lao women shared experiences in ensuring gender equality and improving women's roles in society.

Twelve expat Vietnamese youngsters arrived in Vietnam Monday sponsored by the US Catalyst Foundation for a 10-day trip to help local underprivileged kids and discover their home country in the process.

Applied health students from Charles Sturt University in Australia’s New South Wales state will head to Vietnam next week to work with children with disabilities in a Ho Chi Minh City orphanage.

In spite of being made 35 years ago and shown in many countries, the film “Winter soldier” will be shown in American cinemas since 16 January 2006 only.

Why does it take 35 years?

On the occasion of the New Lunar Year and in preparation for the “Binh Tuat” Tet (Year of Golden Dog), in the evening of January 21st, the Vietnamese Embassy to the US held a cultural exchange including food and film festivals.

Victims of Agent Orange (AO) and other toxic chemicals demanded US chemical companies pay compensation in an international appeal released at the end of a two-day conference on the effects of AO/dioxin in Ha Noi.

All American veterans who are expected to attend an international conference on Agent Orange (AO) and its effects on people to be held in Ha Noi on March 28-29, said they will strive for justice for AO victims in Viet Nam.

A generation after the Vietnam War, a US military veteran whose team once sprayed Agent Orange on the country came face to face with disabled children whose suffering is blamed on the defoliant.

Governments, international and national organizations, and non-government organizations are urged to provide material and spiritual support for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin in Viet Nam.

On the second day of the Brunei’s Crown Prince’s official visit to Vietnam, his spouse visited the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) and Vietnam Women’s Museum

On 9 March 2006, the Vietnamese Student Association, located in Rennes France organized a cultural program titled “An air of Vietnam”.

An impressive activity recently took place to honor Vietnam in school Attenet Royal, which is situated in one of the major districts of Brussels – Belgian capital city.

From nevous newcomer to confident contributor to the Hanoi community, Barbara Ali shares her story about her involvement with the Hanoi international women’s club.

On February 9th, 2006, at the Head Office of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, Ms. Susan Schnall - a member of the American Women Organization for Peace and Global Exchange,

Hanoi, 13 March 2006

Esteemed Judges of the United States of America,

On the occasion of 96th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8th and 1966 years of up rising of the Two Ladies Trung, on March, 4th, Presidium of the Central Vietnam Women’s Union held a familiar meeting with women leaders.

On 11th February, 2006, Mme. Ha Thi Khiet, member of the Central Party Committee, President of Vietnam Women’s Union had a meeting with a delegation from Germany Savings Banks’ Foundation for International Cooperation (SBFIC)

Vietnamese ao dai (traditional long dress) will be introduced at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles of the US from April 18 to July 9.

Antonio Maria Costa, Undersecretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has praised Viet Nam's commitments and achievements in the fight against drugs and crime.

APEC Women Leaders’ Network (WLN) was founded in 1996 with the goal of stimulating women’s participation in all areas of investment, trade and coooperation in the Asia Pacific on the principle of gender equality, contributing to the sustainable growth and human development in the region

On February 17, 2006, (January7th lunar calendar) in Paris, France, Vietnamese Association in France in cooperation with the Vietnam Embassy in France and Vietnam mission to UNESCO organized the Gala to welcome 2006 Lunar New Year.

"I felt welcome everywhere I went, and I felt I could have stayed for days in any of the towns to share the Tet spirit," said Daniel Levitt, HIV/AIDS and Health Manager of USAID Vietnam.

Jacqueline Louise Jacqueline, a 39-year-old British woman, is voluntarily working in the ancient town of Hoi An, central Quang Nam province, to help orphaned children with disabilities.

Isabelle Durin, the No 1 violinist of the Ile-de-France National Symphony Orchestra, will give performances on February 15 and 16 at the Opera House and French Culture Centre in Hanoi.

Australia wishes to tighten mutual cooperation with Viet Nam not only in economics but also in education and poverty elimination, said John Joseph Acquilina, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales, Australia.

In the evening of Octorber 31st 2005, Nguyen Thanh Tung a youngster with two eyes blind as an effect of Agent Orange performed solo the Vietnamese musical instrument “Dan bau” (Monochord) at the Concert-Hall of Cahlos city, Lot Province, 500 km to the South-East of Paris (France). The performance was successful beyond expectation.

The great achievements made by Vietnam were not only a bright example, but also an evidence of a model in building a market economy, and opening foreign relations and international integration, said Professor Alexander Lilov, director of the Bulgarian Centre for Economic and Strategic Research (CESR).

In Hanoi, in the morning of November 28th 2005, the National Committee for the Advancement of Women held the Conference to get opinions on the 3rd Draft of the Gender Equality Law in regards to the issues stated in the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) such as: political participation, jobs, education, health care, marriage and family, gender violence and rural areas.

A film show on the Vietnamese people and land was held in New Delhi on December 27 by the Vietnamese Women's Union.

A get-together for overseas Vietnamese return home to welcome the traditional lunar New Year festival (Tet) will be held at Melia hotel in Hanoi on January 23, according to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (COVA).

An Overseas Vietnamese Club for Science and Technology made its debut at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on December 28 with a six-member executive board.