|
 Viet Nam is facing significant economic challenges, including high inflation and effects from global financial and economic turbulence. The UN in Viet Nam recently took a look at the impacts of high food prices on the most vulnerable groups in the country, in particular the urban poor and the poorest women and children. While Viet Nam is not facing a food shortage, the UN’s analysis shows that due to high inflation less money is available to many Vietnamese households, especially poorer ones, and there is a real risk that some families could fall back below the poverty line while those already there need additional help.
The report recommends six policy responses to these challenges, including reviewing social protection programmes and initiatives, addressing behavioral issues such as breastfeeding and nutrition awareness, and improving information systems for nutritional sentinel surveillance, food security and market information.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
 24 October, 2008 - Today the world commemorates the founding of the United Nations sixty three years ago in 1945, when the UN Charter came into force. It is a time “to reaffirm faith
in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and
small.”
2008 also marks the mid-point in the global effort to achieve the 8 Millennium Development Goals. UN Resident Coordinator John Hendra highlighted their importance in his address to the people of Viet Nam on VTV1 this morning:
"Peace
and security are more likely when people are free of poverty, when they
have access to education, quality healthcare and equal opportunities.
These are the central tenets of the Millennium Development Goals, and
on this year’s UN Day, we mark the half-way point to the 2015 target
date. As UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon has said, this is a crucial
year and leadership and partnership are now more important than ever if
we are to achieve the MDGs on time."
|
|
Read more...
|
 Some mentally ill people in countries around the world are chained up and neglected because their illness is misunderstood.
Health systems around the world - including Viet Nam - face enormous challenges in delivering mental health care and protecting the human rights of people with severe disorders. The resources available are often insufficient and inequitably distributed. Many people with mental disorders receive no care at all.
On the occasion of World Mental Health Day, Dr Jean-Marc Olivé, WHO Representative in Viet Nam, urges all partners to join together for advocacy and action to address this often hidden illness.
|
|
Read more...
|
October 7th, 2008: Viet Nam’s Ministry of Health today joined two UN agencies to tell consumers to be alert, but not alarmed by the melamine milk contamination.
Ministry of Health and other concerning ministries have moved swiftly to restore the safe supply of dairy products for consumers. To ensure all consumers are protected, especially vulnerable infants, all products identified as containing melamine will be removed from the market – even those foods with very low levels of contamination.
This policy will continue until standard international guidelines for melamine safety levels are determined. Our primary aim is to protect Vietnamese consumers. Prior to this contamination, melamine was not identified as a chemical that would occur in primary production or the manufacture of any food product.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
