It’s been nearly two weeks since we concluded our 2012 Mua Thu Cho Em charity concert series, and we’re still feeling the after effects of the fun and generosity from those two nights. To prolong the euphoria and keep us reminded of how blessed we are are as an organization to receive such tremendous community support, we love to go back and browse through photos, reminiscing about the good memories. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out our concert recap for the Northern California concert. Here’s the Southern California recap too…
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Vietnam’s Strategy to Reduce Poverty Through 2015 Announced
October 19th, 2012
Worldwide, October 17 was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. In Vietnam, October 17 was also the National Day of the Poor. Taking advantage of an apt date, the local United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrators used October 17 as an opportunity to present Vietnam’s new poverty reduction plans through 2015. Read the fact sheet here.
The most salient aspect of the new poverty plan is the push to alleviate poverty among ethnic minorities. As noted by several of the UNDP coordinators, poverty remains much more pronounced among ethnic minorities. Although Vietnam has successfully reduced poverty from 58.1% in 1993 to 14.5% in 2008 and malnutrition from 41% to 11.7%, poverty rates among some ethnic groups remains as high as 86%. In absolute terms, ethnic minorities make up 14% of Vietnam’s total population but 54% of its poor.
Mua Tho Cho Em 2012, Northern California Style! Recap
October 15th, 2012
VNHELP hosted the first of two Mua Thu Cho Em fundraising concerts for this year on October 7th. The concert took place at the Santa Clara Convention to a packed house, with people of all backgrounds coming together to enjoy a night of culture and charity. See for yourself in the snapshot below!
Can you find yourself in the crowd?
Vietnam’s Rising Inequality
October 2nd, 2012
Since Vietnam began opening up its markets in the 1980s, the country’s economy has and continues to experience rapid growth. Economic reforms, coupled with aid from international agencies, have helped Vietnam reduce extreme poverty by more than three-quarters and hunger by two-thirds since 1990. Furthermore, Vietnam’s GINI Index in 2008, a scale that measures national distribution of income (with 0 representing perfect equality and 100 signifying absolute inequality), ranked at 37.57, a slight improvement from 2006’s 37.77 and 2004’s 39.16.
As Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) increases to $320 billion in 2012 from $280 billion in 2010, the number of millionaires in the country dramatically rises as well. In June 2012, the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) reported its findings on income gap reduction in Asia for the first half of 2011. CIEM revealed that the number of millionaires in Vietnam increased by 33% from the same period in the previous year. Official statistics from the Vietnam Stock Exchange in 2011 show the 100 richest people on the stock exchange market are worth over $2 million each, with two people qualifying for the United States’ $100 million CEO club.
However, as the number of Vietnamese millionaires increases and the market expands, the economic gap between rich and poor also widens. Despite improvements in the GINI index, the proportion of population below poverty line in Vietnam actually increased from 12.3% in 2009 to 14.5% in 2010. The monthly average income per capita by residence in 2010 was 2,130,000 VND ($102) in urban areas, with the top-earning regions being in the southeast (notably the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province and Saigon [HCMC]) at 2,304,000 VND ($110). On the other hand, rural areas averaged 1,071,000 VND ($51), with the lowest-earning northern midlands, mountains and coastal regions coming in at just 905,000 VND ($43). The gap in income is reflected in spending as well, with the wealthiest spending 3.8 times more in healthcare and 6 times more in education than their poorer counterparts.
Vietnam Added to List of Countries with Child Labor Problems
September 26th, 2012
Today, the U.S. Labor Department released its annual assessment on forced labor and child labor across the world. For Vietnam, the results are grim. Along with South Sudan and Suriname, Vietnam has been added to a list of 74 countries that have serious child labor issues.
According to the report, products that could likely involve child labor in Vietnam include bricks and garments. Garment production may also involve forced labor.
Nearly all of the Southeast Asian countries, including Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, are included on the list, although the number of products with the risk of child labor production ranges in number.
The report is released in the midst of increased discussions on human trafficking following President Barack Obama affirmation that he would help clamp down on trafficking at the UN summit on Tuesday. Evoking the harshest of terms, Obama said:
It is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community, because it tears at our social fabric. It ought to concern every business, because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation, because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime. I’m talking about the injustice, the outrage of human trafficking, which must be called by its true name – modern slavery.