NGO Resource Centre Newsletter April 1-15

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Dear MEMBERS and FRIENDS,

First off this week, we would like to inform you about a workshop held last week by the Aid Monitoring Group and the Center for Cooperation Human Resource Development (C&D), with support from Action Aid and the NGO Resource Centre. More than 50 representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) attended the event, which aimed to introduce concepts and ideas for CSOs to engage in monitoring aid in Vietnam.
Other topics discussed included:

  • perspectives on aid monitoring and effectiveness in relation to Vietnamese NGOs;
  • an introduction to real aid;
  • components on CSO involvement in aid effectiveness in Vietnam;
  • and government, donor accountability.

For more information, please contact [email protected].

In other news, Climate Change Working Group thematic groups continue to meet regularly to formulate action plans and strategies for collaborative activities in 2008. Following this trend, an open CCWG event facilitated by SNV will be held on April 24 to coincide with the Asia Pacific Forestry Week (APFW), which occurs over April 21-26. The event will feature a special guest speaker - David Huberman - who is  visiting Hanoi for the APFW, and will focus on Reductions of Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD), the forestry mechanism proposed for the post-2012 UNFCCC protocol. A 30-40 minute presentation introducing REDD and David's work on the social implications of the mechanism will be followed by an open Q+A session. The event will take place at 2pm on Thursday April 24 at the NGO RC.

Meanwhile, the Ethnic Minority Working Group (EMWG) will hold a special meeting with UK academic Dr Bob Baulch relating to research he has carried out on ethnic minorities and development in Vietnam. The proposed date for the event is during the afternoon of April 21 at the NGO RC. The EMWG has also invited head of the Ethnic Minority Policy Department (CEMA) Dr Tran Van Thuat as a special guest speaker at another proposed meeting to provide an update on the situation of ethnic minority people in Vietnam and the new policies and priorities of the Vietnamese Government on ethnic minorities. The meeting will be held during the afternoon of April 29 at Meeting Room 2, La Thanh Hotel.
Please contact Nguyet on [email protected] for more information on either events.

The Vietnam Global Action Week for Education coalition is gearing up for its 2008 event, which this year falls on April 21-27. Millions of students, teachers, parents and politicians in 64 provinces throughout Viet Nam will join together with 120 countries from around the world to observe the week, which culminates in a ?Big Lesson? held throughout the country on April 23 in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. For more information, please visit http://www.ngocentre.org.vn/node/152.

Applications are now open from all Vietnamese individuals, groups and organizations at local level for the 2008 Vietnam Innovation Day (VID),
which this year focuses on food safety. The VID is a "mini marketplace" for innovative ideas that address local development challenges. It
identifies and directly supports through Innovation Grants small, bottom-up, innovative development proposals that deliver results, which
can then be expanded or replicated. The application deadline for proposals is May 20. Fore more information, please contact Ms. Lê th?
Thu Hà Tel: (04) 936-7335 or (04) 934-6600 (ext.335); Fax: (04) 934-6597. Email: [email protected], [email protected]

There are four working group meetings coming up in the next few weeks: The Ho Chi Minh City INGO Discussion Group meeting will be held on April
11 from 9.00-11.30 at HUFO; the Administrative Working Group meeting will be held on April 22 from 15:00?17:00 at the NGO RC; the HIV/AIDS
Technical Working Group meeting will be held on May 7 from 14:00-16:00; and the Disability Working Group meeting will be held on May 15 from
14:00-17:00 at the NGO RC.

See the Calendar section for more details.