The 7th “Vietnam-Japan Cultural Exchange Days” festival opened in Hoi An, in the central province of Quang Nam on August 14.

Cloud covered Lung Cu commune in Dong Van district of Ha Giang province, Vietnam’s Northernmost point. The commune has a small hamlet, Lo Lo Chai, with only 81 households and slightly more than 300 people. Seen from the Lung Cu flag pole, the hamlet is so tiny, it fits within one’s peripheral view.

UNITED NATIONS — Partnerships between faith-based organizations and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are critical to enhancing efforts to reduce maternal deaths and end violence against women.

Because discrimination on the basis of sex often starts at the earliest stages of life, greater equality for the girl child and the adolescent girl are necessary first steps to ensuring that women have equal rights later in life. UNFPA recogn izes that the world is different for girls than it is for boys, and programme approaches must reflect this.

Women give life, love and care to children, help to build and take care of the home, and feed and clothe their loved ones. In most of the developing world, women are additionally responsible for the agricultural production and local trade that help sustaine their local economies. Women also weave the social fabric of their communities – working together to support schools, organize community events and help to look after neighbours in need.