Speeches Shim
Dr. Michael Osterholm, an expert on global infectious disease threats and biosecurity, visited Vietnam on May 27-31. He was selected by the U.S. Department of State as one of five 2018 U.S. Science Envoys. Dr. Osterholm is a Professor at the University of Minnesota, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, and a frequent advisor to the U.S. Government and the World Health Organization on issues of biosecurity, pandemic threats, and antimicrobial resistance. While in Vietnam, he visited government ministries, regional institutes, and UN and private sector partners.
In April 2019, USAID and Vietnam’s National Committee on the Settlement of Post-War Unexploded Ordnance and Toxic Chemical Consequences (Committee 701) established a new partnership on disability support. Demonstrating a key concept in USAID/Vietnam’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy presentation, as a first step in this partnership, on May 28-31, USAID supported Committee 701 to conduct study visits to three priority provinces sprayed with Agent Orange to collect information that will help to develop the future program.
In early May, the USAID Linkages for Small and Medium Enterprises (LinkSME) project completed a report entitled “SME Finance Sources in Vietnam 2019,” an up-to-date, one-stop guide for enterprises to the financial products and institutions currently in the market. The purpose of the report is to offer SMEs the information they need to quickly locate appropriate financial support, which does not currently exist in Vietnam.
The USAID Clean Air Green Cities project addresses air pollution and its health impacts in Hanoi and other cities in Vietnam by working with local actors and build collective actions. Local actors include youth, schools, communities, businesses and government agencies. On June 1, the project coordinated with Hanoi’s authorities and thirty environmental organizations and groups to organize the “Clean Air Green Hanoi” Festival Day in the city, which attracted 3,000 people.
In January, the Government of Vietnam issued a revised circular on clarifying how disabilities are determined and classified. The circular includes several major improvements such as shortening paperwork processing timelines, simplifying disabilities documentation requirements, and specifically identifying children under six years old and people having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as target beneficiary groups.
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