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international and community development in Vietnam

Resilient Dynamism: What Vietnam Needs Now

January 22nd, 2013

Bicycle, Ao Dai, Hoi An (Suzan Black) / CC BY 3.0

Later this week, a group of world leaders and renowned economists will gather in conference rooms and workshops to discuss the state of the global economy. In particular, they will focus on the idea of “Resilient Dynamism,” this year’s theme at the World Economic Forum (WEF), happening January 23 – 27 in Davos, Switzerland.

In the context of their meeting, “resilient dynamism” refers to a country’s capability to adapt to changing conditions, withstand sudden shocks, and recover to a desired equilibrium in the event of inertia.

In advance of their annual meeting, the WEF also released the “Global Risks” report, which identifies both the global risks that have the  greatest likelihood of occurring (these include severe income disparity, chronic fiscal imbalances, rising greenhouse gas emissions, water supplies crisis and mismanagement of aging population) and the risks that would have the greatest impact should they occur (these include major systemic financial failure, water supply crisis, chronic fiscal imbalance, food shortage, and weapons of mass destruction). Their conversations will be holistic, looking not just at isolated areas of concerns, but at how economic, environmental, governance, infrastructure and social systems relate and affect one another.

Looking through the WEF’s meeting programme, we at VNHELP can’t also help but contemplate what resilient dynamism means for Vietnam, its development, and the lives of the poor people we seek to assist.

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Make Tet Memorable for Orphans and Street Children in Vietnam

January 21st, 2013

Even though 2013 New Year Celebrations have come to and end and many of us have returned to the routine of daily life and keeping up with resolutions, VNHELP is actually already at work planning another new year celebration. Tet, or Lunar New Year, will be celebrated in Vietnam on February 10th this year. Although Vietnam also uses the  Gregorian calendar officially, Tet is still considered the most significant holiday in Vietnam. Many celebrate the holiday for a full two weeks, and the streets are awash in lucky red and gold. It’s a time for families to get together, friends to hang out leisurely, and children to gleefully hold their hands out in anticipation of receiving li xi (red envelopes filled with lucky money.)

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The Weekly News Roundup: Week of January 14

January 18th, 2013

The weekly news roundup brings you a recap of the latest happenings in Vietnam and international development. This week, we have bears and Buddhist in Vietnam, and jobs and money talk across the globe.

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Weekly News Roundup: First Week of January 2013

January 11th, 2013

The weekly news roundup is back! In the first full week of the new year, we’ve already got a lot of interesting things to catch you up on. Check out some of our selected readings below!

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The 2012 Winter Newsletter is Here!

December 13th, 2012

Our latest newsletter is up and ready for your viewing! In it, we’ve compiled highlights of the work you helped us accomplish in the last year. Check it out in the viewer below:

You can also view it in PDF format  here.
Happy reading!