Vietnam calls for UNDP’s help in ethnic minority-related affairs

Vietnam ethnic minority people

Chairman of the National Assembly (NA)’s Ethnic Affairs Council Ha Ngoc Chien has called on the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to support Vietnam in organising training courses for deputies to the NA and all-level People’s Councils in ethnic minority-inhabited areas.

The courses aim to equip the deputies with knowledge and capacity for researching, analysing and assessing policies towards ethnic minority groups, Chien told Louise Chamberlai, UNDP Country Director in Vietnam, in Hanoi on September 6.

At the meeting, the official proposed the UNDP coordinate with his council to evaluate the implementation of the national target programmes on poverty reduction and new-style rural area building, and others on socio-economic development in extremely difficult villages and communes.

He also suggested the 2017-2021 joint strategic plan between the Vietnamese Government and the UN, which is being drafted, pay special attention to ethnic minority people who face numerous difficulties in integration and development.

Host and guest also reviewed outcomes of cooperation between the council and the UNDP over the past time, especially the project on enhancing budget supervision capacity of people-elected agencies in mountainous and ethnic minority-inhabited areas.

Louise Chamberlai noted her hope that the two sides will hold regular meetings and share information about issues of mutual concern in the time ahead./.