Vietnam November Update

‘Animal Bank’ project launches in Yen Bai

On November 10, Hagar Vietnam and the Women’s Union of Yen Bai province held a workshop in the Tram Tau district to launch the ‘Animal Bank’ project funded by doTerra. More than 20 people attended the workshop, including Hagar Vietnam’s Executive Director, the Vice President of the Women’s Union and leaders of 3 local communes implementing the project.

The Animal Bank project will be implemented in the Xa Ho, Ban Cong and Ban Mu communes for 36 months. Its aim is to promote healing and change the lives of women affected by trafficking, exploitation or abuse and to reduce the number of human trafficking cases in the community. The project involves two main activities- to support beneficiaries to increase household income and improve livelihoods by breeding animals and communication to raise awareness about human trafficking, abuse and exploitation.

There are 13 members from the 3 communes in the project’s management team who trained in project management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting skills. Through training, members of the management board developed a deeper understanding of the implementation process and effective ways to implement and monitors project activities. For the commune partners, this may not be the first project they have participated in, but the first time they have attended a training course and systematically learned about project management. Participants obtained basic knowledge about planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting (PMER) and developed the project implementation plan by themselves.

‘Microloans for vulnerable women’ program launch

Hagar Vietnam and the Women’s Union of Yen Bai province hosted the launching workshop of the “Microloans for vulnerable women in northern Vietnam” project, funded by Home Credit. The workshop was held in Nghia Lo town, Yen Bai and almost 60 people attended, including a Home Credit Vietnam representative, the President of the Women’s Union, the local authority of 3 communes in the district and beneficiaries.

This project builds on lessons learned from two previous Savings & Loans initiatives and responds to the needs of vulnerable women to access income generation opportunities. It will increase vulnerable women’s capacity to establish a small livelihood business plan, access microloans and establish small-scale livelihood activities from their households. Savings and loans groups establish roles and responsibilities, regulations for being selected and repaying loans, and opportunities to learn household financial planning.

Over 12 months, 55 women were granted loans according to group regulations and individual approved business plans. These loans have typically been utilized to establish kitchen gardens, raise animals or establish small businesses. Occasionally they fund house repairs, cooking pots, and/or school fees. However, non-income generating activities are kept to a minimum and business plans developed, evidence that sufficient income is allocated towards activities that will generate opportunities to increase household incomes. At the first stage of the project, we rained 55 vulnerable women in financial management skills such as money management and planning family spending. This was the first time that beneficiaries participated in such training. After training, 100% of participants were able to present and develop their business ideas after receiving the capital support. They also knew how to score their ideas to see if they were feasible and to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of the ideas. The training was an opportunity for vulnerable women to increase their confidence and independence.

Hagar Vietnam welcomes Hagar International and Hagar Australia staff

From November 14-18, Hagar Vietnam welcomed Hagar International’s Global Program Lead, Peter Baynard-Smith, and Hagar Australia’s Ann Fishley and Lay Chein Loo. During this visit, delegates visited the Women’s Union of Yen Bai province to promote our involvement in community-based projects. This was also an opportunity to help our partner clearly understand the financial requirements of the donor, DFAT.

Moreover, the Hagar team met and established cooperative relationships with local authorities of the Chau Que Thuong and Chau Que Ha communes in the Van Yen district for future partnership in an upcoming project. The team was able to speak closely with survivors of domestic violence about their situations to gain a better understanding of their stories. We believe these valuable insights will contribute to addressing violence and extending the access to social support services in the upcoming project.

JTIP project creates impact for beneficiaries

Within the 12-months period, the JTIP “COVID-19 victims of human trafficking are resilient” project achieved notable results. More than 20 victims and vulnerable migrants contacted Hagar’s hotline or emergency response team to receive support. The comprehensive support included psychology, medical, education, legal aid, livelihood and emergency needs.

Many survivors improved their living condition and gained newfound hope to rebuild their life. Please watch the video to hear from the survivors at https://youtu.be/o4nn23-gOMw