Americans on Dec. 19 became honourable members of the Viet Nam Association of Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA).

It is not easy to know that eautiful girl comes from Japan. She is Matsugawa Norie, a volunteer of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), who is now working with the Red Cross chapter of Hoang Hoa district, Thanh Hoa province.

On December 5th, the National Committee for the Advancement of Women in Vietnam hosted the 17th Gender Consultants’ Network Meeting with the participation of nearly 50 officials, lecturers and experts on gender and secretaries of the Department for the Advancement of Women from Ministries/sectors...

Over 500 people attended the wedding Saturday of Nguyen Duc, one of the best known victims of Agent Orange, the defoliant sprayed by the US army in Ho Chi Minh City.

Ten students from four universities in Vietnam have received the Honda Yes Award, a prize for talented engineers and young scientists conferred by the Honda Foundation and Honda Vietnam Co.

The National Assembly’s Standing Committee yesterday adopted the Ordinance on Grass Roots Democracy, which is aimed at further enhancing people’s democratic rights and participation in the process of state governance.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on December 11 issued a new report commending Vietnam’s efforts in eliminating gender discrimination.

A Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) proposal aims to have as many as 95% of handicapped children attending school by 2015.

Representatives from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Ministry of Health on December 6 signed an agreement on granting US$2 million to help reduce severe malnutrition for poor children in Vietnam.

Viet Nam has strictly implemented its obligations as a signatory to the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), said Tran Thi Mai Huong, Vice Chairwoman of the National Committee for the Advancement of Women in Viet Nam (NCFAW), at a conference on Thursday.

The United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) will allocate EUR800,000 for setting up a network of community training centers nationwide, designing teaching materials for these centers and upgrading the currently available centers between 2007 and 2008, according to a project executed by the Ministry of Education &Training and the UNESCO Office in Ha Noi.

Norway has committed two-thirds of a 90,000 USD project that aims to increase the number of National Assembly female delegates to 30 percent by the next term from the current 27.3 percent.

A painting exhibition of female painters’ club of the Vietnam Fine Arts Association opened on December 1 in Hanoi.

The first ASEAN Arts and Crafts Festival ended in Thailand on December 3 with the participation of hundreds of artisans and businesspeople from the 10 member countries. Once again, the traditional Vietnamese dress and skilful handicrafts have made a good impression on visitors.

The ministries of Health, Finance and Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs recently issued a circular on healthcare policy to people who rendered services to the country.

During a working visit to Switzerland, Vice –President Nguyen Phuong Minh, on behalf of the VWU’s leadership, awarded the Medal “For the Cause of Women’s Emancipation” to the family of Mr. Tran Dinh Hue and Mrs. Vu Thi Loc – Vietnamese residents in Switzerland. The ceremony took place at the head office of the Vietnamese Mission in Geneva to acknowledge and express high appreciation to Mr.Loc family’s contribution to the poor women in Viet Nam and the Vietnam Women’s Union as well. .

I met teacher Tran Thi Thiep, vice dean of the special education faculty (for hearing, visual and brain - impaired children) of the Hanoi Teachers' Training College after she had taken her students to Ha Tay province's disabled children nursing centre.

One of this year’s Young Citizens of Ho Chi Minh City is a blind computer teacher named Phan Thuy Phuong. There was a time when the thought of even touching a computer would have been beyond her wildest dreams, let alone using one, but that was then.

The forum for APEC students called “Voice of the future” began on November 13. Around 50 students from APEC economies met for the first time at Hanoi University.

Two top Vietnamese teachers and 100 international counterparts are attending a Microsoft-initiated forum on cutting-edge educational technology in Philadelphia.

Ho Chi Minh City’s top 40 students of the year gathered at the Reunification Palace on Tuesday to receive due recognition and other rewards for their academic prowess.

Many experts have said that WTO membership will bring Vietnamese youngsters more opportunities, but what do the young say about their country’s integration.

More women and children are becoming vulnerable as a result of rising divorce rates in Viet Nam.

A HCM City-based fund working for the socio-economic uplift of the poor has reported impressive results in the 15 years it has been in existence.

Vice State President Truong My Hoa has extended thanks to the Friendship Village International Committee (FVIC) for its assistance to Vietnam's war veterans and Agent Orange/dioxin victims.

Geradine S. Kunstadter, a US citizen, has been awarded an insignia for her contributions to caring Vietnamese disabled and disadvantaged children in recent years.

National Assembly delegates discussed the draft Law on Preventing Domestic Violence for the first time at their Saturday session.

The presidium of VWU organized Workshops to collect inputs and comments from various groups to the Draft of VWU’s Regulations (amended and revised) on 5th and 6th October 2006.

In the evening of 17th October, the Central Viet Nam Women's Union held a meeting of female members of the 10th Session, the 11th National Assembly.

In Oct. 20th, at the Hanoi Cinema Club, the Vietnam Women’s Union and UNFPA in Vietnam organized the film show with the topic of trafficking in women and children. Mme Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa - Member of the Central Party, VWU Vice – President attended the ceremony.

Four collectives and four individuals were honored to be awarded

She was born in a poor, big family in Long An. As the oldest daughter, she did not have a good chance for her education.

Chairwoman of the International Committee of Friendship Villages, Rose Marie Hohn Mizo, has described the Friendship Village as a symbol of international solidarity, cooperation and mutual understanding between nations of different cultures for a common goal.

A collection of 64 poems by Vietnam’s greatest poetess, Ho Xuan Huong, has been published in Romania. The poetry was translated by the writer Constantin Lupeanu, Romania’s Ambassador to Viet Nam from 2000 and 2004, who also edited the 150-page book in Vietnamese and Romanian.

During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Ha Noi in November, 500 young volunteers from various universities will become roving ambassadors for their country by catering to the needs of the visiting politicians and journalists. For the volunteers, it will be their first real shot at practicing serious diplomacy.

The Danish International Development Agency (Danida) would fund $850,000 for a Vietnamese project to ensure women’s equal access to land and houses in seven rural provinces.

VietNamNet Bridge – My Linh, one of the most famous pop stars in Vietnam, just came back from Japan where the Asian Divas programme was held. Linh has shared her happiness with the press.

Ms Nguyen Thi Loan, teacher of Yen Thang junior secondary school in Yen Mo district of Ninh Binh province, was one out of over 20 passengers on a car en route Hong Quang-Ha Dong driven by Nguyen Ngoc Bach. She was on her way home from Thuong Lam commune, My Duc district, Ha Tay province.

In 1982, Mrs Nguyen Thi Phuong retired and lived in residence 4 which is near Hoa Huong railway station. In the first years after liberation, this used to be a poorest residence of the ward and district. It was also a place of social evil. As a social activist, she had a good understanding of the local people's circumstances. In 1984, she asked her ward to set up a cosy home for orphans.

A photo exhibition on Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange entitled “The Pains and the Smiles” opened in Brooklyn, New York last week.

The 21 political leaders coming to Viet Nam for the APEC summit will be presented with their portraits made out of sand by artist Y Lan.

The Prime Minister has just issued a decision to help handicapped people to find jobs and fully integrate into society.

The development of women staff is a criterion to measure the growth of women movement and gender equality process. Thus, it is very important to create staff source.

The project entitled “Rural Development For a Future Without Poverty”, which was implemented in Tuyen Quang province, helped not only women improve their living standard and enhance all-sided capacity but also women staffs raise the management skill.

The Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee has launched the “Month for the Poor” drive which will last from Oct 17 to November 18 to raise fund for disadvantaged people.

We visited Ms Nguyen Thi Hiep's family in Doai village, Vinh Thinh commune, Vinh Loc district, Thanh Hoa province.

24 women were conferred and bestowed the title “Vietnamese Heroic Mothers” for their contributions to the protection and construction of the country in a ceremony held by Ho Chi Minh City Committee of the Party, People's Council, People’s Committee and Fatherland Front Committee on Oct. 14.

During the first 6 months of 2006, the Cho Moi District Women’s Union has effectively implemented 6 key programs of the Women’s Union with a focus on the program of “Supporting Women to Develop Economics”.

Transforming into an income generation entity, in 2006, TYM Fund of the Vietnam Women’s Union has got full legal capacity to access to domestic and foreign financial resources

The Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in Ho Chi Minh City on Oct. 20 launched a writing competition for Vietnamese women in and outside the country.